BRITISH Transport Police are investigating the death of a man after he was struck by a high-speed train yesterday.

The man is thought to have been in his mid-20s and from Darlington, where the incident happened.

He was hit after he walked onto the southbound railway line at Five Arch Bridge, near a footpath off North Road.

It happened at 3pm as the 2.21pm Virgin train from Newcastle to Cardiff was approaching Darlington railway station.

The driver stopped the train and the emergency services were called, but the man's life could not be saved.

Darlington police arrived at the scene first, before handing the investigation to British Transport Police.

A Darlington police spokes-man said: "Identification is not straightforward. We are going to assist with the investigation.

"The coroner's officers will be informed and an inquest will be held."

The train involved was delayed at the scene for nearly two hours while emergency services dealt with the incident.

Passengers had to remain on the train until it could move into the railway station, where the service ended.

A number of services were cancelled and delayed, but Virgin customers were able to travel to their destinations on later services.

Virgin Trains spokesman Steve Knight said: "This sort of incident is very distressing for our staff and our customers and we do everything we can to make it easier for them.

"This is not a one-off incident and it does happen quite a lot. It is very unfortunate."