A huge steam engine has been dismantled and moved to the Bancroft Mill Museum in Barnoldswick where enthusiasts hope it will become a working visitor attraction.

The rare 350 horsepower engine was used to drive woollen weaving machinery in Bradley Mill until the 1970s.

Jim Gill, secretary of the Bancroft Mill Engine Trust, said Bradley Mill had now been sold for conversion into residential use.

He said the 41ft long steam engine, with a flywheel 14ft in diameter, was in very good condition.

It had been taken apart and transported to the museum where the trust planned to restore it to full working order.

Mr Gill said the tandem compound horizontal engine was made by Smith Brothers and Eastwood of Bradford and it was the last example of its type built by the firm.

It had replaced the original beam engine at the mill in 1901.

The trust plans to house it in a shed at the museum but money is needed to pay for an extension to the building and strong foundations on which the massive engine will stand.

Mr Gill said the trust hoped to have the engine running as a visitor attraction within two years.

The museum already houses the restored Bancroft Mill steam engine, which is open to the public on special steaming days. The next one is on June 22.

Meanwhile Mr Gill is appealing to anyone with information about the Bradley Mill engine to contact him. A loan of any photographs would also be greatly appreciated.

Mr Gill can be contacted on 01282 865626.