Severn Valley Railway raises £10k for carriage repairs

Volunteers spent three days removing paint from one of the carriages, which dates back to 1922

Fundraisers have donated £10,000 to restore train carriages that were attacked by vandals.

The Severn Valley Railway Charitable Trust met its target in just a week, after appealing for help to remove the graffiti sprayed on to the carriages on Christmas Day.

It was the only day that the railway was closed over the festive period.

Work to restore the carriages is ongoing at the paint shop in Kidderminster, Worcestershire.

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A team of volunteers spent three days removing the graffiti by hand on the first carriage, a teak GNR 2701 dating from 1922.

Its gold leaf lettering and painted lining was badly damaged but is now being painstakingly restored.

The team will then apply several coats of varnish before starting on the second carriage, a GWR 1146.

One of the carriages was centre-stage in 2016 as it was pulled by Flying Scotsman on the Severn Valley Railway.

Charitable Trust director Shelagh Paterson said the speed with which the money was raised showed how "shocked" people were by the incident.

She said: "Keeping our heritage alive and accessible is clearly very important to the wide range of people who've come forward to add their support."

Worcester Ambassadors, a group which works to promote the county, made a donation of £1,000 towards the appeal.

There have been many comments of support for the railway.

Donor, Daniel White, said: "The SVR preserves important machines from our past and the experience people can have from them. I hope this helps it to continue to preserve the two vandalised carriages for everyone to experience."

The unscheduled work to restore the carriages has meant a delay to the railway's scheduled projects, which included making wheelchair accessible dining accommodation.

The Severn Valley Railway says any extra money raised will go towards further carriage refurbishments