A DRIVER narrowly escaped being hit by a train when his car came off the road at Broken Cross Bridge in Ford early this morning.

The black Fiat Bravo was travelling south when it appears to have gone out of control and hit a garden wall on the right-hand side of the road.

The car was thrown back across the carriageway, mounted the kerb and went over the embankment onto the track, where it was hit by the 5.15am express to London Waterloo.

The driver, a 22-year-old man from Manchester, managed to throw himself clear before the train hit, and was treated at Salisbury District Hospital for minor injuries before being released.

The six passengers and five employees on the train, which included a 29-year-old train driver from Salisbury, also escaped without injury and were taken back to the station by taxi.

Anyone who saw the car before the incident or witnessed the collision is asked to contact PC John Hutchings at the Wiltshire Police southern roads policing unit at 01722 435208.