A volunteer at the Kent and East Sussex Railway has been arrested after allegedly threatening to kill the general manager on Facebook.

Keith Brown is alleged to have made the threat against Graham Baldwin.

The 50-year-old, a volunteer with KESR in the forestry and conservation department, has been charged over the incident and bailed to appear before magistrates later this month.

KESR is based at Tenterden station and draws thousands of people to its popular Thomas the Tank Engine and Santa Special days.

It is one of the county's top tourist attractions, running trains along the 10-and-a-half-mile track to Bodiam.

Brown was arrested in a police raid on his home last Thursday at about 1.30am.

It is understood that he tried to become a KESR director last year, but was not elected.

He is believed to work in the rail industry.

Brown, of Hill Close, Crowbrough, was arrested by Sussex police.

A spokesman for the force said: "A man has been arrested and charged with using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause fear or harm to another person after a message was allegedly posted on social media on February 26.

"Keith Brown has been released on bail to appear at Brighton Magistrates' Court on March 27."

Earlier this year, the railway was ranked sixth in a list of the 50 best days out in the country by a leading tourism group - beating the London Eye and Stonehenge.

There are plans to restore the missing link between Bodiam and Robertsbridge, which would connect KESR with mainline trains to London and Hastings, enabling tourists to visit Tenterden by train.

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