One of the UK's biggest mazes has celebrated 200 years of the modern railway by designing the giant puzzle in the shape of a steam train.

The popular attraction near Kibworth, Leics., features a labyrinth of pathways stretching three miles and takes two hours to walk around.

Situated in the centre of a vast expanse of farmland, the eight acre site has a different quirky design every year, mapped out using GPS satellite technology.



It has previously been shaped into a Crown to mark the Queen's Jubilee, an ambulance to celebrate 70 years of the NHS and a javelin thrower to honour Team GB Olympic athletes.

The award-winning maize maze has this year marked 200 years of modern railway travel by shaping its hedges into the design of a steam locomotive.

Diana Brooks, owner of Wistow Maze, said: "The maze is offering visitors an opportunity to celebrate this historic milestone, whilst exercising both mind and body along the way."

Visitors have be asked to find 12 quiz boards hidden amongst the pathways, which highlight how transport has evolved over the years.

The maze, which attracts 20,000 annual visitors, will open from July 21 and at the end of the season, it is harvested for cattle fodder and then redesigned the following spring.

The Railway 200 celebrations mark the opening of the world's first public railway between Stockton and Darlington on September 27, 1825.

Designed and built by George Stephenson and his son Robert, the Locomotion No.1 was the first steam train to carry passengers on a public railway.