AMATEUR photographer Les Fitton has driven hundreds of miles and tramped the Yorkshire Dales, the Lake District, and the moors around his home at Lostock.

He and his wife Carol have scoured the Pennines and climbed every Munro - Scotland's highest mountains – in search of The Perfect Picture.

And he finally snapped it — almost on his doorstep.

Les and Carol have a caravan on a small site at Holme, north of Carnforth. It's a handy occasional base for them as they set off on their travels.

So when the newly recommissioned Flying Scotsman was heading north to Carlisle from Carnforth on the West Coast main line he was on the spot. A short stroll across a nearby field, and more than a little patience in the pouring rain, paid off with this magnificent shot of the big beast smothered in what railway fans call "clag". Smoke to everyone else.

But The Perfect Picture? Perhaps not. Says Les,: "That's the problem for amateur photographers. For all of us the really great picture is always going to be the next one. It's all about being in the right place at the right time and having loads of patience and optimism. Oh, and luck."