Property may be just the ticket

Mr Underhill and his wife June are moving to Canada

A bungalow which has gone on the market in Cornwall boasts an unusual addition - its very own miniature railway in the back garden.

The property has 400 yards (366m) of track carrying a miniature steam engine and seven sit-in carriages.

Railway buff David Underhill used to run the railway commercially in Somerset and took the train and track to Cornwall when he moved.

The property at Lansallos near Polperro has gone on the market for £595,000.

'Childhood passion'

That price does not include the railway, which can be negotiated separately if the new owners want it.

For the past four years the train has made regular trips around his two-acre garden at a sedate 5mph with a uniformed Mr Underhill on the miniature footplate.

The train line goes across the bungalow's driveway

Mr Underhill, 60, and his wife, June, are now moving to Canada, so the five-bedroom bed and breakfast business and two-bedroom holiday cottage are on the market.

Mr Underhill said: "It's just been a childhood passion that has developed over the years.

"The main interest really is model engineering, I enjoy building steam engines, but unfortunately these engines now are getting very big and very heavy and my health is not as good as it was years ago, so it's time to move on."

Mr Underhill said the 850lb (386kg) train had steamed around 12,000 miles and carried half a million people.