UPDATE... James May's train expected to reach Bideford at midnight

IT'S running a little late; but a team attempting to break the record for the world s longest model railway won t mind as long as their train reaches Bideford station at some point in the next few hours! The one-off attempt is being made today (Monday) al

IT'S running a little late; but a team attempting to break the record for the world's longest model railway won't mind as long as their train reaches Bideford station at some point in the next few hours!

The one-off attempt is being made today (Monday) along a disused stretch of railway between Barnstaple and Bideford stations by television presenter James May and around 400 volunteers.

The miniature train was originally expected to reach Bideford between 4pm and 5pm, although at 8pm, the train was still reported to be chugging along the Tarka Trail near Yelland.

Volunteers estimate that the train, travelling at around one-mile-per-hour, will now reach its destination at around midnight. One, who spoke to the Gazette at Bideford station earlier this evening, blamed the delay on people interfering with the track.

"Some sections of the track have been taken and we have also had a number of batteries taken too," he said.

It was hoped that the train's eventual arrival would be met by a host of Victorian costumed characters to emulate the arrival of the train in Bideford in Victorian times, although this now looks unlikely.

The whole stunt is being filmed for a new BBC television series, James May's Toy Stories, in which the presenter attempts to "get kids out of their bedrooms and away from their computers, drag parents off their backsides and get them all playing together again".

For a full story and pictures, see Wednesday's North Devon Gazette.