FILM and history lovers are in for a treat as a tank used in Steven Spielberg’s latest blockbuster War Horse comes to Dorset.

The fully operational replica of a British Mk IV tank will be displayed at The Tank Museum in Bovington when the film is released later this week and will be used in its tank display later in the year.

Museum curator David Willey said: “The vehicle is a wonderful recreation with all the presence and menace of the real thing.

“But inside, it remains simple and modern.”

War Horse, based on Michael Morpurgo’s 1982 children’s book and stage adaptation of the same name, tells the story of Joey the horse, who is deployed as part of the cavalry during the First World War.

The full-sized replica tank used in the film was based on the museum’s own Mark IV, which was built in 1917.

Oscar award-winning special effects company Neil Corbould Special Effects LTD, whose credits include Saving Private Ryan and Gladiator, visited The Tank Museum to take measurements from the vehicle and copy original documents related to the MK IV tank from the museum’s archive in 2010.

The tank, which has been secretly kept at the museum until the film’s release, was built around the engine, transmission and track from a modern commercial excavator.