TIGER Day at the Tank Museum at Bovington attracted thousands of visitors to see a very special tank in action.

The world’s only running Tiger 1 featured in a re-enactment of the battle in which it was captured 80 years ago in the Second World War.

Tiger 131 only runs on Tiger Day in April and September and always attracts huge crowds when it does.

Museum curator David Willey said: “A significant amount of work goes into keeping the Tiger running and it is extremely fragile and liable to faults.

“During the war it took 10 hours of maintenance for every hour the Tiger ran – now it takes the museum staff and engineers an astonishing 200 hours.”

Tiger 131 was designed by Germany during the Second World War and was captured in Tunisia in April 1943.

It was passed to the Tank Museum in 1951, which started restoration in the 1990s.

The tank has starred in its very own Tiger Day event since 2012, the latest attracting more than 4,500 visitors.