Nuclear train in crossing crash

A train carrying an empty nuclear flask collided yesterday with a lorry on a railway level crossing. British Transport police said the flask was not damaged and there was no danger.

A train carrying an empty nuclear flask collided yesterday with a lorry on a railway level crossing. British Transport police said the flask was not damaged and there was no danger.

The train was travelling at between 3mph and 5mph when it collided with a 40ft lorry at a crossing near at Brookland, near Romney in Kent at 8.40am. A police spokesman said no one had been injured and the flask was about 80ft from the impact.

More than 40 firefighters were mobilised but the incident was scaled down because the train was not derailed and there was no nuclear waste on board. The lorry driver was being interviewed about "road traffic matters". The train was travelling from Willesden in north London to the nuclear power station in Dungeness. A police spokesman added: "Nuclear flasks have been thoroughly tested on impacts at very high speeds and the public can be reassured there is nothing to be concerned about over this." The collision was near the A259, the main road from Folkestone to Brighton.

Maureen Fox, from Iden, East Sussex, said: "I don't think it is a very good idea to have a crossing without a barrier protecting vehicles from colliding with the trains."