MORE than 100 passengers were delayed on trains stranded at Highley and Arley stations while firefighters spent two hours tackling a mystery blaze next to a stretch of the Severn Valley Railway line.

Traffic was also brought to a halt as 30 firefighters brought a grass fire on a railway embankment under control.

The fire at Northwood Lane, Bewdley, is being investigated by SVR bosses and police.

SVR marketing manager John Leach said fires along the embankment were often caused by sparks from passing locomotives but this time the cause was a mystery as only a diesel train had passed the embankment before the fire started.

Crews from Kidderminster, Stourport and Bewdley and a water carrier and off-road vehicle from Worcester dealt with the incident at 5.10pm last Thursday, but had to wait 10 minutes for trains to be stopped before they could fight the inferno.