A STEAM locomotive that was designed to be an Army vehicle more than a century ago took to the roads at the weekend.

The Fowler steam roller engine was designed for the British Army in 1900 for use in the Second Boer War.

But when the first two models of the 8.5-ton vehicle were fully armoured, they weighed 24 tons and began to sink into the earth.

A further two rolled off the production line but were never used by the Army and instead were used for civilian work such as hauling heavy trailers.

One of those vehicles lay in South Africa as scrap until a private collector from Northumberland salvaged it and enlisted the help of volunteers in Shildon, County Durham, to fix it.

At the weekend, after about five years of restoration, the engine was again in steam and on display at Vintage Vehicles Shildon Museum.

It will be on display at the museum, on Dabble Duck Industrial Estate, again this weekend, but is unlikely to be operated in steam.

Michael Bowman, of the museum, said: “It is a very rare locomotive and it is great for the museum to exhibit, something so different, especially for people to see it going up and down the road in steam.”