EGG-citement is in store on Severn Valley Railway as the company celebrates Easter with an event for passengers this weekend.

The Kidderminster to Bridgnorth steam heritage line is offering giant bars of chocolate and free Sunday lunches on its Severn Valley Limited dining train as prizes in its great Easter egg hunt competition, beginning on Good Friday and running through until Easter Monday.

Visitors travelling on the 16-mile line over the weekend will be challenged to spot 12 Easter "eggs" - actually coloured posters of eggs, each bearing a different number - hidden at or in the immediate area of the six main stations along the rouite.

Winners of the Sunday lunch for four vouchers, SVR travel tickets and giant chocolate bars will be decided by a tiebreaking slogan entered by anyone who successfully manages to find all 12 eggs.

John Leach, SVR marketing manager, said: "We tried this out for the first time three years ago and it went down really well.

"There's a national affection for steam locomotives but we're also a nation of chocolate lovers, so it seemed the perfect combination.

Good Friday marks the start of 17 consecutive days of operations by SVR steam trains, up until Sunday, April 10, with one train in each direction every 75 minutes. That will increase to one every 45 minutes on Easter Sunday and Monday.