PASSERS-by averted a rail accident after frantically flagging down a train just metres away from a damaged bridge.

The Middlesbrough to Whitby train was about to cross a badly-damaged bridge in the village of Castleton before it was stopped. In a scene reminiscent of the film The Railway Children, two men climbed on to the tracks and flagged the Arriva train down in plenty of time.

No one was hurt in the accident, which came to light on Wednesday.

A wagon crashed into the bridge at about 1.15pm on Tuesday. Trains were not expected to be able to cross the 12ft 3in bridge until yesterday.

Police are investigating the incident. A Dutch lorry driver, who has not been named is thought to have become lost and crashed into the bridge.

His cab and part of the trailer made it under the bridge, but it then hit a bump and the top of the trailer struck the structure, causing serious damage and a cascade of bricks on to the road.

Kath Hodgson lives in a house adjoining the bridge and was in her garden when the accident happened.

She said: "I heard this big thud and rushed over to see what had happened. My first thought was 'there's a train due.' This was at about quarter past one and the train was due at 22 minutes past.

"I grabbed my daughter's red coat from the kitchen table and ran out, but I saw there were already two men ahead of me flagging the train down.

"The power in our house was off for two hours while the workmen used a crane and our neighbour's power was off most of Wednesday while the work continued."

A police spokesman for said officers had attended the scene and were looking into the matter. On Wednesday night, it emerged the lorry had been involved in a minor accident with a car in the village shortly before the vehicle hit the bridge.

A spokesman for Arriva said that the train had been allowed through under close supervision about one and a half hours after the accident. Buses were laid on while repair work was carried out.