CHRISTMAS elves have been spotted on TransPennine Express trains across the North of England, much to the delight of younger passengers.

This comes as part of a tradition that the train operator has kept up since it was invented in 2005, with elves deployed on seats to keep an eye on which children have been naughty or nice in the festive period before reporting back to Father Christmas.

One of the first children to notice one of the elves was three-year-old Indiana Shaw.

Mum Victoria said: "Indiana couldn’t contain her excitement when she saw the mischievous elves and it’s safe to say she was on her best behaviour for the entire journey!"

The company says it hopes the elves will enliven families' train journeys in the run up to Christmas.

TransPennine Express customer experience director Kathryn O’Brien said: "We loved seeing children’s faces as they spotted the elves perched on the luggage rack and sitting on seats on our services.

"It’s a magical time of year and now more than ever we want to encourage people to get out and about and make those human connections that we all need, and as a provider of travel, we know we can make a difference and our trains can help make those connections this Christmas."