A Scottish garden centre is steaming into the festive season with a new feature.

Cardwell Garden Centre's cleaner-cum-carpenter, Alex Freeman, has built a replica of The Polar Express steam train - based on the animated movie starring Hollywood actor Tom Hanks.

Kids visiting the centre, near Gourock in Inverclyde, can climb aboard the 10-feet high and 15-feet long creation. It even has a bell for them to ring and steam train sound effects.

There's also a mannequin dressed as Tom Hank's character, The Conductor, standing beside the train and a ticket office booth.

The Polar Express is an animated film telling the story of a young boy who doubts there is a Santa Claus until he takes a train ride to the North Pole.

Mr Freeman, 59, created the replica after he was shown photographs by the centre's retail general manager, Paul Carmichael.

Mr Freeman said: "All I need is to see a photograph of something and it's not long before I've got a good idea in my head how I'm going to make a wooden replica of it.

"Although I never became a joiner or carpenter when I left school, my dad, John, was a carpenter in the shipyards locally.

"When I was a boy, I used to watch him make lots of things out of wood at home for people and that's where I learned how to do it. Any carpentry skills I have, I got from my dad."

Alex added: "I just love making the Christmas attractions and my reward is seeing the happiness on children's faces and how much pleasure they get from something I've made.

"The Polar Express train has been my biggest carpentry project at Cardwell so far, and although it's made for the kids, a lot of adults like it as well."