Meet the 13-year-old who is the new voice of Thomas the Tank Engine

Meet 13-year-old Harry, who has just landed a very special role.

The schoolboy has been announced as the voice of Thomas the Tank Engine in a brand-new animated series.

Harry said it felt "amazing" to become Thomas after growing up watching the programme, and playing with the famous train character.

He also added that he's had to keep his new job secret from his classmates since the start of the year.

For nine months, Harry took part in weekly recording sessions without his classmates knowing what he was really doing.

He added that he thought his friends would be shocked to now find out he was actually voicing the character.

Harry said he was excited he was able "to be part of something which kids from the next generation will get to grow up to watch".

"It feels amazing, because I played and watched Thomas as a kid, and now I get to be Thomas. It just feels insane," he added.

Thomas the Tank Engine was created more than 80 years ago by British author Reverend Wilbert Awdry as a way to entertain his young son Christopher.

Rev Awdry was fascinated by trains and wrote a collection of books called The Railway Series, which follows the adventures of a group of trains who lived on the fictional Island of Sodor.

Thomas the Tank Engine first appeared in the books in 1946, becoming very popular. Then in the 1980s the books were turned into a live-action TV series.

Since then there have been more than 20 series of Thomas the Tank Engine shown in at least 180 countries around the world - as well as films, merchandise and even a theme park in Staffordshire.

The new series, Thomas & Friends: Railway Stories, is set to launch on YouTube, with a full series set to debut early next year.