MUSEUM staff are inviting visitors to become a diesel driver for a fiver this weekend.

The locomotive crew at Locomotion: The National Railway Museum in Shildon, County Durham, are offering ten-minute sessions at the controls of the museum’s Dutch diesel shunter, driving the engine along a short stretch of the site track.

Sessions run on Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 1pm, and 1.30pm to 4pm, as part of the weekend’s Cab It! event.

Visitors can also board the footplates of some of the museum’s vehicles, including the Furness Railway No.20, Green Arrow, and Great North Railway 1247 - which was used in the 1968 BBC television series The Railway Children.

The Cab It! event runs from 10am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday. Parking and admission are free.

The diesel driving sessions cost £5, and participants must be over 18.

For information, call 01388-777999.