A STEAM train helped transport a poorly dog walker to Swindon’s Great Western Hospital.

Police asked volunteers from the Swindon and Cricklade Railway for their help in moving the woman, who had broken her leg, from a remote field near Oakhurst back to the station. The Spartan steam engine came to her aid.

Adrian Thompson, a spokesman for the railway, said it was the first time the volunteers had been called to help with a medical emergency of this kind. He added: “We’re proud of having been of assistance in getting the patient to hospital.”

On Facebook, North Swindon police said members of the public had called 999 on Saturday morning after hearing screams for help near the old steam railway line in Oakhurst.

They added: “We had to stop the trains to get across the line, where officers found a dog walker who had broken her leg when her foot had gone through a rotten plank on a bridge over the River Ray.

“All the emergency services could reach her to rescue her, but we couldn’t get the ambulance to her. So the Spartan steam engine, which had been waiting patiently at Taw Hill came to our assistance.

“The patient was loaded aboard for a quick trip down the track where the ambulance was waiting at the station.”

Police thanked the railway volunteers for their help. The woman’s dog, a Jack Russell called Topsy, was taken home by officers.

Swindon and Cricklade Railway’s Vintage and Sensational 60s weekend runs until Sunday, 5pm.