Thomas & Friends is to air on Spanish TV for the first time ever, following a deal between Hit Entertainment and leading commercial broadcaster Antena 3.

The series, which will be called El Tren Thomas y sus amigos, has been purchased to form part of Antena 3's weekend pre-school programming strand.

The programme is currently broadcast in over 145 countries in 30 languages around the world.

Antena 3 will also act as licensing agent for in Spain for Thomas & Friends including merchandising and will work with Hit's key toy licensing partners in Europe, which include Tomy and Lego, for a product release date of May.