FRED Dibnah’s historic steam traction engine has arrived at its new home after selling for more £264,000 at auction.

The new owner, motoring enthusiast Michael Oliver, gleefully welcomed the 1912 Aveling and Porter engine to his warehouse in Knutsford, Cheshire, yesterday.

The engine is in immaculate condition despite not being used since Mr Dibnah’s funeral in 2004.

Its matt black boiler and shiny green bodywork are spotless, while its gleaming brass valves and fittings are all in working order.

Alan Atkinson, who has looked after the engine at his Preston hauliers depot for the last five years, said: “All it needs to get it running is a match.

“Mechanically speaking it is ready to roll, but it needs a new boiler certificate to be legal as it has not been assessed since Mr Dibnah’s death.

“It also needs a tax disc before it can be road-legal again.”

Mr Oliver, aged 72, was delighted with his new purchase.

He said: “This is the first time I have seen it in the flesh, but I have seen it many times on Fred’s TV programmes.

“I think it’s a tribute to engineering before the First World War. You are looking at turn-of-the-century engineering.

“The rivets are so perfectly placed, the top work on the engine is fantastic, even the funnel looks like an old Dickensian stove-pipe hat.

“It’s got so much character, I can’t wait to get it on the steam.”

Mr Oliver hopes that the public’s first chance to see the engine in action will be at a steam rally at Astle Park in Cheshire this month.

Mr Dibnah bought the engine in 1979 and spent almost 25 years restoring it.

His family reluctantly sold the engine to finance the winding up costs of his estate after a long-running dispute with his widow, Sheila. Mr Oliver, from Hale, Cheshire, runs Oliver Valves, which supplies valves for oil rigs.

He started the company in his garage 30 years ago and it is now Europe’s biggest privately-owned valve company