Volunteers and staff at Buckfastleigh's South Devon Railway have celebrated a milestone achievement.

One of their stalwart locos, the former GWR prairie tank 5526, has clocked up more than a million miles in service.

General manager Dick Wood said: 'My predecessor Richard Elliott, who is also 5526 Ltd chairman, had a hunch that the engine's mileage must be close to a million, so we took a look at the records and the February figures showed that 5526 had indeed already run 1,004,792 miles.

'We look forward to many more miles on the rails with this wonderful 83-year-old engine.'

Built in 1928 at the GWR's Swindon works, the engine saw service all over the West Country before being withdrawn in 1962 and sold for scrap after working 968,577 miles.

The engine then languished in a scrapyard for 23 years before being rescued by a group of steam enthusiasts who set about restoring it in 1985.

It arrived at Buckfastleigh in 1993 and has been in service since 2003.