North Yorkshire Moors Railway will not run steam trains 'until further notice' after lineside fire

The heritage railway was forced to take similar measures last summer, when a series of moorland fires were caused by embers from steam locomotives.

Chief executive Chris Price said: “Due to the lineside fire that took place on May 25, we can confirm that we will be operating our heritage diesel fleet along the heritage line until we see a change in weather conditions.

“Due to this there will be changes to our planned timetable, so please check the website in advance of visiting.

“We apologise to those passengers impacted; the safety of both staff and passengers is always our priority. We would like to thank the North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service for all their assistance.”

The fire service confirmed they were called to Eller Beck near Goathland just before midday on May 25. Crews from Lythe, Goathland, Whitby, Malton and Kirkbymoorside dealt with a lineside fire covering approximately 40,000 square metres that had spread to open moorland. Gamekeepers also assisted in dampening down hotspots.

Concerns over the environmental impact of lineside fires have become a major issue for heritage railways, who are also reducing steam fleet usage due to high coal prices.