WORK is set to begin to restore a brightly coloured steam road roller in a play area of Dorchester.

Dorchester Town Council has 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.

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

The town council said that Spitfire Forge will be carrying out the work which will involve removing rust, old paint and corroded parts and fabricating new ones to be re-fitted before the entire machine is re-painted and returned to use.

A spokesman for the town council said: "The extensive works required are expected to take place over the next three to four months, there is a lot of rust and decay in places, and some of the work requires dry weather, so it’s possible, depending on what is found, that that time period may be longer.

"During this time the steam roller will be fenced off, our contractor will also be gaining access with his mobile workshop to the area.

"You can help by not allowing any children within your control to climb on the fencing and to follow any instructions given by on site staff, this will be for your and their safety during the works.

"We hope you will join us in looking forward to the newly reconditioned steam roller being open again in time for the spring and for many, many years to come."