The long haul is nearly over for a restored steam locomotive which was a rusting hulk in a scrapyard in South Wales until 16 years ago.

Freight engine No 4247, built to haul coal trains from the Welsh mines to the docks, last saw regular service 36 years ago.

Restored: The steam locomotive

A group of enthusiasts, mostly from south Oxfordshire, bought the locomotive intending to run it on the Cholsey and Wallingford Railway.

But it is now planned to hire it out to steam preservation societies across the country.

Retired steam engine driver Bernard Barlow of Blewbury - a director of the 4247 Preservation Society - said the project had involved years of fundraising and painstaking work on the locomotive by volunteers.

The cost of the project so far has been more than £150,000 - paid for with the help of two Lottery grants totalling nearly £85,000.