MORRIS dancers will entertain visitors to railway stations during the annual Severn Valley in Bloom event taking place over two days this weekend.

It will be the fifth year Severn Valley Railway has organised it but the company is aiming to make it more than just a festival of flowers.

Floral displays and neat station gardens will be supplemented by attractions including country walks from railway halts and displays of classic vehicles and beekeeping, among others on Saturday and Sunday.

John Leach, SVR's marketing manager, said: "In the past, Severn Valley in Bloom has really been a simple open invitation to visitors to come and see the railway at its prettiest, when all our station gardens, flower beds, herbaceous borders, flower tubs and hanging baskets are a blaze of colour.

"It's something we've always been especially proud of. All our gardens and floral displays are the work of volunteers who devote countless hours cultivating and tending plants, in the way that railway stations always used to do in pre and early post-nationalisation days, so we're perpetuating a great tradition.

"But now we've given Severn Valley in Bloom a new impetus and made it into a much bigger event, with lots of other attractions for visitors to see and to do. The good thing is train fares stay as normal, so this is a very good time for anyone to come to the SVR."

The Old Meg Morris dancers, from Malvern, will perform handkerchief and stick dances at Kidderminster, Bewdley, Arley and Bridgnorth stations at various times over the two days.