FREE afternoon trips on The Severn Valley Railway are available for National Lottery players.

The Severn Valley Railway is taking part in the National Lottery Open Week between March 18 and March 26, with a massive ticket giveaway to National Lottery players.

The popular heritage line is offering free afternoon trips between Kidderminster and Highley to hundreds of players on a first-come, first-served basis.

Tickets are available to pre-book online at svr.co.uk/lottery for the midday departure from Kidderminster to Highley on March 18, 19, 25 and 26.

READ MORE: St John's councillor Richard Udall hacked on Twitter

Passengers can return on any timetabled service, and will need to bring proof of a National Lottery purchase with them on the day of travel.

This can be either a draw-based game or a scratch card, bought on any date in store or online.

Michael Dunn, SVR’s head of commercial and visitor experience, said: “We’re thrilled to be taking part in this national event.

“We’re making hundreds of free tickets available as our way of saying thank you to National Lottery players.

“It’s thanks to them that the Severn Valley Railway has been able to benefit from significant grants from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

"Over the years, it’s helped to make many different SVR projects possible, including the restoration of our flagship locomotive 4930 ‘Hagley Hall’, the restoration of Falling Sands viaduct, as well as building The Engine House Visitor Centre at Highley and the Carriage Shed at Kidderminster.”

The Severn Valley Railway reopens for its 2023 season on March 4, and will run between Kidderminster and Highley only on weekends during this month.

Essential engineering works are taking place north of Highley, which prevent operation of the full line until April 1.

READ MORE: Children involved in Worcester and Pershore ASB identified

The National Lottery supports projects in the areas of arts, education, environment, health, heritage, sport and community.

Since the National Lottery began in 1994, players have raised more than £46 billion for projects and more than 635,000 grants have been awarded across the UK.

Each week £30 million is raised which goes towards a variety of projects to improve the lives of people and communities throughout the whole of the UK.