People were given the chance to get hands-on working on station platforms and assisting the station master at a volunteering day held across three North Norfolk railway stations.

North Norfolk Railway's Poppy Line, which had a record year in 2010 - carrying almost 144,000 passengers on steam and heritage diesel trains, is looking for more volunteers and in a bid to show people what they could do to help, they held a volunteering day on Saturday at the Holt, Weybourne and Sheringham stations.

At Sheringham Rod Langsdale, a platform supervisor, was on hand to show potential volunteers the ropes.

He said the sort of positions which needed filling included ticket and platform staff and helping with the buffet services. He added that anyone from the age of 18 upwards could volunteer.

He added: 'The day is all about getting as many people as possible to volunteer.

'The people are incredibly friendly. A lot of us are enthusiasts so everybody wants to be here which makes it a lovely place to work and volunteer.'

At Holt station, volunteers man the William Marriott Museum and help the railway's education department in out-of-the-classroom school projects.

Holt's volunteer stationmaster Tony Hey , said: 'There's never a dull moment. Working on the railway you make new friends, meet all sorts of people.'

Mick Cambridge, volunteer stationmaster at Weybourne, makes the point that volunteers give the time that suits them. He said: 'Some come for as little as a day a month, some for a few hours a week, some pretty well full time. We plan our rosters to suit our volunteers.' A mammoth family fun day is being held at train stations across north Norfolk.

For more information on volunteering, visit www.nnrailway.co.uk or call 01263 820 800.

The Poppyline and North Norfolk Railway are holding a mammoth funday at Weybourne, Holt and Sheringham stations on June 11 and 12.

There will be the chance to help the guards and station staff look after the passengers and see what is happening in the railway's loco and carriage workshops.

To join in with activities all people have to do is buy a rover ticket at one of the stations.