A serious landslip has devastated a popular heritage railway line - with rail bosses now facing a large repair bill.
Around 30 metres of track and track bed were damaged on Wednesday (January 29) due to an 'embankment failure' along the Severn Valley Railway (SVR) route.
A section of the 16-mile-long railway line - that runs through Worcestershire and Shropshire - has been closed pending repairs.
The affected area lies between the SVR's northern terminus station at Bridgnorth and the smaller Hampton Loade station, in Shropshire. However, the rest of the line between Kidderminster and Hampton Loade is not affected.
Although the line has suffered previous landslips and had work carried out, the location of this failure is not one the railway was previously concerned about, SVR said.
SVR now are warning people to 'stay away' from the area, in case more slippages occur.
The head of infrastructure at SVR, Chris Bond, said: 'We've suffered a significant embankment failure and damage to approximately 30 metres of the track and track bed.
'The area remains in a dangerous state and further slippage may occur, so we are warning people to stay well away.
'We will seek further guidance from specialist contractors, but it's already clear this will be a major infrastructure repair project that will take considerable time and money.'
The railway was due to reopen for February half-term, but services between the northern lines will remain closed until repaired.
SVR managing director Jonathan Dunster said: 'There is a further impact on us as a heritage line, and that's the cost we now face to bring our full line back into operation.
'Things were just beginning to stabilise for the SVR, following several years of financial struggles, and this is the last thing we needed.
'Inevitably, we're going to have to find the funds to pay for this essential repair, and would welcome all the help that we can get.
'If you would like to assist, we would be extremely grateful, and you can donate to the SVR Resilience Fund at svr.co.uk.'
