But thanks to kind-hearted railwaymen, the male bird, who was named Chris, was nursed back to good health and has now been released back to the wild.

Pete Allin, control manager at Grosmont Station spotted the injured bird alongside the track while changing points close to the station.

The bird, with its distinctive pointed wings and long tail, was hopping about, clearly unable to fly, but it managed to move into the undergrowth for cover. Back in his office, Pete told his colleague, Mike Mitchell who went back to the spot and to his surprise, was able to pick up the bird with relative ease.

After talking about it to local police, the railwaymen set about seeking help and thankfully discovered Jean Thorpe from Norton, near Malton, who runs a rehabilitation centre for wildlife.

With Jean's help the kestrel was nursed back to health and then returned to Grosmont to be re-united with its rescuers before being released back into the wild from the point where it was found.

Later, Pete told the Gazette: "It was a pleasure to see it fly off and it flew really well. It was a wild bird but it was quite friendly and I was able to stroke it.

"It had no signs of anything broken but we thought it had maybe been hit by something."

Pete and Mike's job is preserving big steam engines but they demonstrated that when necessary they are also just as good at helping to preserve the local wildlife.