Cancelled: Record-breaking steam engine's trip to Shropshire is off amid heatwave fears

A trip to Shropshire by one of Britain’s fastest-ever steam locomotives later this week has been cancelled with temperatures soaring.

Saphos Trains, which runs numerous excursion trains around the country, had planned to bring the 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley to Shropshire on Wednesday (June 24).

But on Monday (June 22) the Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Trust said in a post on social media that scorching temperatures in the UK have put paid to the plans.

“Due to the present heatwave Network Rail have raised the fire risk state to its highest level,” a spokesperson said. “As a result 60007 has been withdrawn from the positioning move on 23rd June and the 'Welsh Marches’ train to Shrewsbury on the 24th June. 60007 will remain at Crewe until restrictions are eased.”

The Met Office has issued amber weather warnings for much of the West Midlands including Shropshire, with temperatures in the day expected to exceed 30C through Thursday (June 25).

The 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley had been due to pass through Leominster, Craven Arms and Dorrington before arriving in Shrewsbury at 12.43pm.

After a break of more than three hours for tourists to look around and for the train to be turned and serviced, the Welsh Marches Express would have left Shrewsbury at 4.07pm to retrace its steps south.

Sir Nigel Gresley achieved one of the highest speeds recorded by a steam locomotive in this country when it reached 112mph in Lincolnshire in 1959, setting a post-war record for steam engines in the UK.

Built in 1937 and named after the man who designed it, it is now owned by the Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Preservation Trust.