A railway has defended its safety record after a 10-tonne capacity steam crane came close to overturning.

The incident at Kent & East Sussex Railway’s Rolvenden depot (K&ESR) happened in March and was investigated by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

It has just come to light after a copy of the independent regulators report was left on a train.

A concerned passenger, who discovered the report lying on a train table at Tenterden, leaked the document to the Kentish Express.

The near-miss, involving a Taylor and Hubbard steam crane, happened in a locomotive yard, resulting in an ORR inspection on site in April, which was followed up with a two-day full inspection in June.

It led to a 10-page report detailing areas of improvement that K&ESR has been asked to address and report back to the regulator, although Shaun Dewey, the railway’s general manager, said the ORR had been "generally pleased" with the railway’s operation.

He said the incident with the crane had occurred as a boiler was being lifted off a locomotive and swung round by it, meaning the crane became "slightly unbalanced".

Mr Dewey stressed no injuries had resulted because of the mishap and the railway had reported itself to the regulator.

All cranes are now fully certified and only used by qualified operators.

ORR spokesman Simon Belgard confirmed the details of its inquiry and said: “We are committed to protecting rail users and staff.

"We investigated an incident involving a crane at the Kent and East Sussex Railway and visited site in April and returned for a further two-day inspection in June.

“At the site investigation, it was agreed that the company would not use any of its own steam cranes until they had been certified as in safe working order by a competent lifting engineer and only operated by trained and assessed personnel.”

He added during the June inspection a number of other issues had been identified at the railway.

Mr Dewey emphasised that because the regulator’s standards also apply to high speed trains, recommendations needed to be proportionate to K&ESR's 25-mile operation, as referenced in the report.

The ORR’s report stated improvements are needed in the railway’s safety management systems, which includes areas such as conducting risk assessment and carrying out inspections of rolling stock and track, as well as competence management, covering evaluation and training of staff.

"Competence is the bedrock for a secure future for the railway" - Office of Rail and Road inspector

The railway said it has reworked the former to reflect "updated requirements", while regarding the latter it had improved record-keeping for volunteers.

The inspector wrote: “Competence is the bedrock for a secure future for the railway”.

Maintenance standards have also been reviewed following the report, with more thorough inspections of "hidden areas" of heritage rolling stock being carried out by the railway to ensure the carriages’ fitness to run at 25mph.

During the inspection a section of track was identified with two fishplates (the metal bar connecting two rails), instead of the required four.

The additional two bolts have since been fitted. Following a track walk between Tenterden and Wittersham, the inspector added: “I gained the impression that generally the permanent way [track] was in a good state of repair.”