Watch: Car crushed by train in crash at level crossing gets removed from tracks - driver had lucky escape

Video footage - captured by a passer-by - shows an SUV being removed from the tracks after it was crushed by a train. The crumpled bonnet of the car can be seen barely hanging on – with the front bumper dragging along the ground. Stanley Binns, 75, took the video from the top of a supermarket car park which overlooks the crossing. He said: “The accident had already happened, people told me it happened about an hour before. They reckoned the crossing light wasn’t working and the driver drove on and the train hit the side of it. When I got there you could see the end of the train sticking out.”

The black Suzuki SUV was removed after it was hit by the 0908 train from Saltburn to Nunthorpe, near Redcar Central station, on May 1. Karen Duffy, Operations Director for Network Rail's North & East route, said: "Following a low-speed collision between a train and a car at West Dyke Road level crossing, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch have opened an investigation and we will support them throughout this process.

“Thankfully, there were no injuries to people in the car, the train, the general public or railway colleagues, and I am grateful to the police, paramedics and other emergency services who responded to the incident with speed and professionalism.”