Updated: A MOTORIST had a terrifying experience as his car skidded on to a level crossing with a 180-tonne train bearing down upon him.

The drama unfolded at Hagg Lane level crossing, near Hemingbrough.

A Ford Mondeo driven by a 44-year-old South Duffield man approached the crossing at about 8am yesterday, skidded on snow and ice, and ended up across the tracks.

With the driver unable to move the car off the tracks, the warning lights started flashing and the level crossing barriers swung across, signalling that a train was on its way.

The 44-year-old motorist then got out of his car and ran up the tracks, waving his arms to try to alert the driver of the Transpennine Express train, the 7.33am service from Hull to Manchester, which was travelling at 75mph. Luckily for the 100 passengers on board, the train driver saw him and the car on the track, and applied the emergency brake.

Although the train still hit the car, the fire service said it pushed the vehicle only three feet, causing only minor damage.

A spokesman for British Transport Police: “This was a very slow-speed collision and there are no injuries reported. The train driver had seen the obstruction on the crossing and applied the emergency brake and the car driver had exited the vehicle, a blue Ford Mondeo, before it was struck.

“It appears that the car driver attempted to brake as he approached the crossing but his vehicle skidded on the snow and on to the tracks. The car driver was treated for shock at the scene by paramedics but did not suffer any further injuries and did not require hospital treatment."

The train driver and his passengers also escaped injury, although a spokesman for Transpennine Express said he was shaken up.

Hundreds of people were left stranded at Selby station and all services between Hull and Selby were cancelled. Trains were still running, however, between Selby and Leeds and replacement bus services were introduced, subject to the road conditions.

The car was eventually removed from the track just after 11am. Normal services resumed at 11.20am. The weather also affected services on the East Coast mainline. A revised timetable was in place for yesterday with train operator East Coast running approximately one train each hour on its two busiest routes, from London to Leeds, and from London to York, Newcastle and Edinburgh.

Each service was talking about 30 minutes longer than usual to reach its destination.

Road travel was also severely disrupted yesterday with many main roads in York gridlocked. A police spokesman said there had been four accidents across the county where people had been hurt, including a man travelling on a scooter near Foss Islands Road who was injured after he skidded on the ice.

The spokesman said: “A further 33 cars were in damage-only collisions and there were 19 highway disruptions across the county.”

Useful links

Latest traffic and travel information
Up-to-date travel information for York, North and East Yorkshire, including the latest on the roads, and public transport.

School closures
Details of school closures in York and North Yorkshire.

City of York Council's gritting information
Including details of which roads and footpaths are gritted, and the location of salt bins in York.

The Met Office Severe Weather Warnings
Details of severe weather warnings issued for the Yorkshire and Humberside area, plus advice on what to do during periods of snow and ice.


Share your snow pictures

Pictures from today's snowfall>>

If you have taken any pictures of the snow that you wish to share, please email them to web.admin@thepress.co.uk, alternatively, send your mobile phone pictures to 80360 starting your message with the keyword YORK.