BLUE Peter, one of the country's most famous steam locomotives, was due to arrive in Darlington this week.

One of the most powerful passenger locomotives of its time, Blue Peter is a huge favourite among railway buffs and should prove a major attraction at Darlington Railway Museum.

Final detailed preparations to make the North Road site ready for the long-awaited arrival of Blue Peter were being made this week ahead of its journey from the North York Moors.

The operation will be complicated, with local haulage firm GCS Johnson starting to load up the engine at Newbridge Yard, Pickering, at 8am this Thursday.

Blue Peter will then make the trip to Darlington, possibly with the aid of a police escort, and will be filmed on its journey by a camera crew from the BBC's children's television show of the same name.

The locomotive is likely to arrive in Darlington by mid-afternoon and be ready for the public on Saturday.

Officials at the museum spent the week making space in the goods shed area ready for the new arrival.

Acting heritage manager John Wilkes said: "We are making enough space for Blue Peter to come through and buffer up behind the existing exhibits in the museum.

"Everyone is really excited and we have already experienced a huge amount of interest from callers.

"Alongside the original Stephenson Locomotion No.1 that already resides here, we feel the addition of Blue Peter will certainly help us to put Darlington Railway Museum firmly on the map."

The museum has been working with Darlington Borough Council and North-Eastern Locomotive preservation group to organise the move.

The 1948-built locomotive was first allocated to the North-Eastern region of British Rail at York, providing express services to Newcastle and King's Cross.

It was withdrawn from service in 1966 and has recently been based on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.