The Lakeside and Haverthwaite Steam Railway Trust is looking for a suitable site near to its existing base in Haverthwaite.

The Furness Railway Trust plans to bring its collection of historic railway exhibits under one roof, with a workshop where it can restore them.

A public meeting where experts will outline the proposals is due to take place on September 17.

A trust spokesman said: "There continues to be an urgent need to bring the trust's valuable collection under cover on a single site and to allow further restoration projects to take place.

"There is no room at the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway for such a facility.

"Full and detailed consultation will be carried out throughout this process with the local communities most likely to be affected by this development."

The trust owns a number of locomotives, including the oldest working standard gauge steam engine in Britain, Furness Railway Number 20.

The trust has hired Witherslack -based Kate Willard Ltd, working with a team including local engineers and transport experts Bleasdale Wand of Ulverston and Brian Campbell Associates of Spark Bridge and architects Sheppard Robson of Manchester to undertake this work.

Tim Owen, trust chairman said: "We were asked to flesh things out at last December's public meeting and report back. Kate and her team will do one better than that, because they will involve the local community at the heart of developing these ideas."

This project has also been recognised by the Lake District National Park Authority as one of the key projects in the Windermere Waterfront Strategy.