The original Flying Scotsman was built in 1923

The National Railway Museum in York is currently trying to raise enough cash to buy the Doncaster-made locomotive,

Lord Faulkner of Worcester, said: "It is almost unthinkable that it could be sold abroad or, worse still, finish up on the forecourt of some pub car park."

Government minister Lord McIntosh agreed there was a case for a temporary export ban.

Export licence

He said Lord Faulkner had made a "good case" trying to keep the Flying Scotsman in the UK.

"It's got a close connection with our history and national life.

"I am sure you, as a railway enthusiast, would say it was of outstanding aesthetic significance; and it is of outstanding significance for the study of art, learning and history.

"But that doesn't mean that I can anticipate what decision would be taken about an export licence application if and when it is made."

At the moment the engine is privately owned by Flying Scotsman Plc and pulls the Venice Simplon Orient Express, which runs out of London's Victoria Station.

Flying Scotsman Plc boss Peter Butler said it was being sold because it did not bring in the returns expected, and plans to build a visitor centre at Edinburgh Waverley fell through.

A group of enthusiasts from Berwick, in Northumberland, has already said they want to bring it to a museum in the town.