Train driver forced into emergency stop after 'near miss' with children 'playing chicken'
Police from West Mercia have issued a plea after a Transport for Wales train was forced to apply its emergency brakes to avoid a collision with two children playing 'chicken' on the line.
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West Mercia Police Constable Stuart Coote posted on the force's Neighbourhood Matters page on Monday evening (September 9) reporting the incident on the Heart of Wales line near Knighton on the English/Wales border.
The post states that an emergency call was received from the driver of a three-carriage Transport for Wales train at 2.40pm on Sunday, September 8, after the train had been involved in a near miss with two children.
The incident is said to have taken place at the Offa's Dyke path crossing in the Panpunton area.
Police say the train had to apply the emergency brake causing it to stop, and the alarm was raised triggering an emergency response from West Mercia Police, Dyfed-Powys Police, and the British Transport Police who have responsibility for the railways.
A thorough search of the area was carried out, but officers found no trace of the children who had disappeared.
The train driver is said to have described the incident as one child playing 'chicken' with the moving train - standing in the centre of the tracks before moving at the last moment.
Pc Stuart Coote from Bishop's Castle police has pleaded with children who use the foot crossing "not to undertake such dangerous activities and to think of the dire consequences of such actions, putting themselves in extreme danger as well as those on the train."
The post says: "On Sunday, September 8, at 2.40pm an emergency call was received from a train driver of a three-carriage Transport for Wales train that had been involved in a near miss with two children on the Heart of Wales line near Knighton.
"The location was given as the Offa's Dyke path crossing in the Panpunton area. The train had to apply the emergency brake and this caused the train to have to stop and the alarm was raised. This triggered an emergency response from three police forces, West Mercia Police, Dyfed-Powys Police due to the incident being on the border of both forces and British Transport Police who have responsibility for the railways.
"A thorough search of the area was carried out but the children had gone, the driver of the train describing the incident as one playing ‘chicken’ with a moving train as they were stood in the centre of the train tracks and only moved at the very last moment."
