EDDIE IZZARD returned to his roots to open a new model railway.

The comedian was at Bexhill Museum in his home town to open its new miniature track.

The star did the honours in memory of his late father, Harold John M Izzard, who died earlier this year.

The rail layout depicts Bexhill, where Eddie grew up, as his father would have remembered it during the snowy Christmas of 1940.

Eddie was the mind behind the concept of the track.

He recalled a conversation he had with his father about the December the railway is set in.

He said: “My father, before he died, told me about Christmas 1940. It was such a snowy Christmas that they just compacted the snow down and threw the excess snow into the sea.

“They didn’t clear it away, it was too much.

“He said that had to spend an extra week away because they were evacuated to St Albans on that Bexhill west line so I thought that’s the time to set it.”

The 15ft by 7ft layout will form the centrepiece of the museum’s new Second World War exhibition being created in readiness for the 80th anniversary next year of the outbreak of war.

Supported and designed by Eddie, the layout was built by members of the renowned Bexhill Model Railway Enthusiasts.

The new “N” gauge model railway represents Bexhill and Sidley during one of the area’s hardest winters.

Bomb damage that had happened by Christmas 1940 is shown in the buildings depicted in the layout.

Eddie is a fan of railways himself and says any fellow train enthusiasts will love the model. He said: “That is fascinating for anyone who is fascinated by those things.

“I know some people go ‘I’m not interested in that’, but I don’t like those people.”

The exhibition will include continuous playing of residents’ recorded reminiscences of Bexhill at war.

Landmark local buildings such as Sidley Station, Central Station, Bexhill West Station and the De La Warr Pavilion – plus Harold Izzard’s old home at Laburnham Cottages in Sidley – have been faithfully modelled by retired architect Bill Hill.

For more information on the exhibit or how to visit Bexhill Museum visit http://www.bexhillmuseum.co.uk/