Two suspected faulty stays in Tornado's boiler were identified during a routine inspection of the locomotive by fitters at Stewarts Lane depot on the morning of Saturday 26th June. These faults were not present when a similar inspection of Tornado was conducted on Friday 25th June during the locomotive's lay-over at Crewe Heritage Centre following her use on 'The Border Raider' excursion the day before.

This new discovery follows the identification of five defective stays in late May/early June and the subsequent replacement of these five stays and seven neighbouring stays during repairs at Hither Green depot.

The A1 Steam locomotive Trust has therefore taken the safe and prudent decision to temporarily withdraw Tornado from service to enable a comprehensive repair to be put in place. Since the earlier defects were discovered the Trust has been conducting a thorough investigation into the likely causes, which has yet to be completed. All of the Trust's customers have been advised of the situation and will be informed of Tornado's planned return to service date as soon as possible.

Mark Allatt, chairman, The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, commented:

"This latest news is a blow to all of Tornado's supporters and customers and our customers' passengers. We are working as hard as we can to bring Tornado back to full health as soon as possible and back onto the main line where she belongs."

Information on when Tornado will return to traffic will be posted on www.a1steam.com as soon as it becomes available.