PEOPLE wanting to travel on Keighley's top tourist attraction this week have been warned to expect disruption due to filming for a major new BBC production.

Bosses at the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway (K&WVR) confirmed the line is being used for three days of filming for a feature film.

However, they added they are contractually forbidden from revealing the title and content of the production, and no one from the BBC was available for comment when contacted by the Keighley News on Tuesday.

K&WVR filming liaison officer, Roger France, said: "This has been more of a close-kept secret than is usual. There is very little information available, and they are keeping their cards very close to their chest.

"This is a major feature film and it's a fairly challenging assignment for us, but we are used to it.

"We're delighted to get this particular project. It's good for the local economy to have a large film crew here for a few days.

The railway was operating a reduced service yesterday, with trains unable to run between Ingrow and Keighley.

Steam trains continued to run between Oxenhope and Ingrow, with a vintage bus service connecting Ingrow and Keighley.

No steam train services will be operating on the heritage line today or tomorrow.

A special vintage bus service will instead be running along the full length of the line. Due to limited road access for large vehicles at Oakworth and Damems stations, this bus will stop at Oxenhope, Haworth, Ingrow and Keighley stations only.

Special reduced fares will apply and the museums on the railway will open as normal. Visit kwvr.co.uk for more details.

Mr France said: "We have to close the line today and tomorrow for safety reasons, mainly.

"We try to have filming done out of peak times, rather than in the middle of summer. This is more disruptive than it would normally be. We've given a lot of advance notice and we're doing all we can to minimise impact."

The railway is a popular destination for film and drama makers.

More recent productions filmed on the line include the Peaky Blinders, a series about gangsters in Birmingham; Testament Of Youth, a film about a woman's experiences as a First World War nurse, and The Great Train Robbery, a film based on the true story of the infamous 1963 heist in Buckinghamshire.

l The locomotive that starred in the much-loved 1970s film The Railway Children is poised to return to the limelight.

The 1929-built Great Western Railway Pannier Tank, which is on loan from the K&WVR, along with Edwardian Carriage No 5318, is on track to be one of the biggest guest stars ever to grace the UK stage.

The loco will feature in York Theatre Royal’s The Railway Children, Mike Kenny’s Olivier Award-winning stage adaptation of E Nesbit’s novel.

The show will be staged at the National Railway Museum in York on July 31.