A FORGOTTEN relic of the region's railway history has been found during gas pipeline works.

A signal, thought to date back to the Forties, has stood abandoned in a field near Brotton since the Guisborough to Brotton branch line was closed in the Sixties.

Few people realised it was there until gas company Transco decided to lay a new high-pressure main between Brotton and Kirkleatham right next to the signal.

The signal has been delivered to the safekeeping of the North Yorks Moors Railway Preservation Society, which has put it into storage until it can be fully restored to operational use. It is thought likely that the signal will find a permanent home on the railway's 18 miles of line between Grosmont and Pickering.

Railway volunteer Simon Chapman said: "It is lovely to think it will be staying so close to home and on another part of the line for which it was originally designed.