SPECIAL stamps featuring artwork by Bradford's David Hockney and a steam locomotive on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway are part of a 50th anniversary celebration by the Royal Mail.

This year marks the golden anniversary of Royal Mail’s Special Stamp programme, which has always focussed on Britain's heritage and character.

And the Royal Mail has now launched an online gallery of every Special Stamp issued since July 1965.

Included is a stamp from1999 showing Saltaire as pictured by world famous artist David Hockney in his 1997 painting Salts Mill.

The stamp was unveiled at the mill itself, priced at 26p, and was one of the Workers' Tale set of four which formed part of a Royal Mail collection.

Meanwhile, the image of a tank engine owned by the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway (KWVR) appeared on the highest value stamp priced 68p in 2004 to mark the 200th anniversary of the first steam locomotive.

It was the first time a KWVR locomotive had been featured on a Royal Mail postage stamp.

The engine, built in Derby in 1952 and bought by the KWVR in 1969 is currently having an overhaul prior to returning to service.

The British Standard Class 4MT engine pulled carriages along the line from the early 1970s before it was side-lined for boiler repairs, appearing again after 20 years.

It is now one of the major locomotives on the five-mile line between Keighley and Oxenhope.

Bradford Council executive member for culture, Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, said she was delighted by the idea of the online gallery of stamps which is accessible to all.

She said: "Both Keighley & Worth Valley Railway and Saltaire are big tourist attractions for the Bradford district and the fact that they have both featured on Royal Mail stamps in recent years is significant.

"The Saltaire stamp was designed by David Hockney so it's a great combination of Bradford talent celebrating local heritage," Cllr Hinchcliffe said.

Jim Shipley, of KWVR, said: "The railway once had its own internal letters service and legally issued i its own stamps, so it's nice to see this again and we're of course delighted to be included."

Visitors to the celebration site at www.rmspecialstamps.com can browse through the stamps by the decade and also view the stamps that were issued in the year that they were born.

A video presented by broadcaster and historian Dan Snow, which explores how the Special Stamp programme has been shaped by the changing face of the UK, is also hosted on the www.rmspecialstamps.com website.

Criteria for the creation of Special Stamps to celebrate events and commemorate anniversaries relevant to UK heritage and life was devised in 1965 by the then Postmaster General, Tony Benn.

The stamp of Sir Winston Churchill, issued in July of that year, was the first under Mr Benn’s administration.

It was the first British stamp to feature a contemporary individual and with its bold modernist approach with no words, it set the scene for the future.

In total 2,663 Special Stamps have been issued and Her Majesty the Queen approves all UK stamp designs before they are printed.