VISITORS are to be charged entry to York's National Railway Museum (NRM) - just two months after admission prices were scrapped by the Government.

The temporary charges are to be made during a two-week Thomas the Tank Engine event in February.

The admission fees - of up to £6 - will apply to everyone except children under two.

Graham Stratfold, the NRM's head of visitor services, said the charges were for the Thomas event and were unavoidable.

He said: "We still wish to run Thomas the Tank Engine events, but it's not viable without a charge. It costs £250,000 to hold one, which includes running costs and an improved range of activities, and that's money that we need to recover.

"Although we will receive compensation for the anticipated loss of adult income, it hasn't compensated for the increased amount of people coming in, and the extra cleaning, maintenance and staff required to cope with it.

"In our first weekend of free admissions, we were up 120 per cent, compared to last year."

Mr Stratfold said running the event in just one gallery of the museum had been considered, but was deemed impractical as Thomas the Tank Engine usually attracted 6,000 visitors a day.

"Realistically, I anticipate some visitors will be unhappy with it, but I believe we won't get too much of it as people are used to paying for a Thomas event, and compared to other preserved railways we are one of the cheapest Thomas events in the region."

The Day Out With Thomas will run from February 9 to 24, with prices of £6 for adults, £5 for over-60s and concessions, and £3 for children aged two to 17.