SHAKEN passengers were taken from a train which crashed into a car on a level crossing in the Fens this afternoon. The car driver was killed.

The train is thought to have hit the car as it went over the crossing. The car was dragged 400 yards along the track before the train came to a halt.

Two double decker buses collected 65 passengers from the 12.56pm pm Kings Lynn to Kings Cross service which was involved in the accident at Ten Mile Bank near Littleport.

The A10 through Cambridgeshire has been closed in both directions near the crossing.

A British Transport police spokesman said that “officers were called to Pleasant level crossing following a report of a car being struck by a train.

“Norfolk and Cambridgeshire Constabulary officers also attended the incident, which was reported to BTP at 1.15pm, along with local fire and ambulance services. The driver of the vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene.

“Police are currently working to establish the full circumstances including how the car came to be on the tracks.”

Witness Joshua Palmer, who lives near the crossing, was at home when he heard a loud crash.

He saw a cloud of smoke outside and said the car had been pushed along the tracks about 400 metres to the next railway crossing.

A passenger on the train described hearing a “horrendous bang”.

“The train eventually came to a halt,” he told BBC Radio Norfolk.

“I’ve had a look outside and the car is impaled on the front of the train.”

Magpas Helimedix Doctor Maria Smith and paramedic Simon Standen arrived at Ten Mile Bank, near Downham Market, at 1:45pm via the Magpas Helimedix Air Ambulance, after they were requested to attend a collision involving a car and a train.

A spokesman said: “The Magpas Doctor pronounced the death of a male driver of the car on the scene, our thoughts are with his family and his friends at this time. The Helimedix team also checked the welfare of the passengers on the train and found no one to be injured.”