BUSY SVR staff at Bewdley are looking out for an annual mystery booking form while sorting through the sackloads of bookings which are already arriving for the Santa Steam Specials.

The bizarre form has been sent with a "Coventry and Warwick" postmark every year since 1995 - but without any details filled in.

The sender, whose identity is unknown, mysteriously enters a hand-written dash in all the sections and the address on the envelope is written in a "scratchy" hand, leading SVR staff to think it may be sent by an elderly man.

It is always sent in a recognisable small envelope and posted second class, the earliest arriving on November 17, while the latest was delivered on February 24 - long after the Santa trains had finished.

"We just don't know what to make of it," said SVR marketing manager, John Leach, adding: "There's never any message, so we're unsure whether the sender is trying to say something in a subliminal kind of way or not but the form arrives without fail, every year, and in a quirky way, it's become part of the Christmas tradition."

Another traditional Christmas experience at SVR is for the Santa trains on the Sunday immediately before Christmas to be the first to sell out - and so it is proving again this year.

Most seats on 13 Santa Steam Specials on Sunday, December 18 have already been bagged, with just a few seats remaining on some of the afternoon trains.

In total, 91 Santa Steam Specials will run from Kidderminster to Santa's grotto at Arley this year, providing seats for up to 30,625 people.

There are a further nine Santa Herald diesel trains running from Kidderminster to Highley - with Santa on board - three of which are already sold out.

Maintaining another tradition of recent years, special Christmas Carol trains on Saturday, December 10 and 17 will stop at stations down the line between Bewdley and Bridgnorth for the choir-led singing of carols. These trains leave Bewdley at 6.50pm on both days.