A NEWLY restored brightly coloured steam roller in a town's play area will be unveiled this weekend.

Dorchester Town Council arranged for repairs to the steam roller in the play area at Kings Road Playing Fields, which children are said to frequently play and climb on.

People are being invited to witness the unveiling of the refurbished roller at the playing fields on Saturday, August 13 at 2pm.

A competition was held by the town council giving children the chance to win a ride on a real working steam engine by coming up with a name for the Kings Road Steam Engine.

The original ‘Eddison' steam roller, which was gifted to the town in the early 1960s, was originally built in 1922 and weighs 10 tons.

Spitfire Forge carried out the work, which involved removing rust, old paint and corroded parts and fabricating new ones to be re-fitted before the entire machine was re-painted and returned to use.

A spokesman for Dorchester Town Council said: "Join us this Saturday the 13th August at 2pm at Kings Road Play Area for the unveiling of the Kings Road Steam Engine.

"The iconic piece of play equipment has undergone some refurbishments, we are excited to be unveiling it and opening it up for play again! What's more is we will be joined by two real working engines on the day."

All those who have suggested names for the engine are invited to attend on the day for the unveiling.