Passengers injured after train hits tractor at level crossing

More than a dozen people have been injured after a train collided with a tractor in Herefordshire.

British Transport Police (BTP) said officers were called to a level crossing north of Leominster at 10.40am on Thursday, following reports that a train had struck a tractor and trailer. A man has been airlifted to hospital and a woman has been taken to hospital by road.

A further 15 people, who were passengers on the train, were assessed by paramedics but discharged at the scene, West Midlands Ambulance Service said. A spokesperson confirmed that nobody from the tractor required assessment.

Firefighters and officers from West Mercia Police also attended the scene. A spokesperson for Transport for Wales (TfW) confirmed its 8.30am service between Manchester Piccadilly and Cardiff Central hit an obstruction at a crossing between Ludlow and Leominster.

All lines between the Hereford and Craven Arms stations are blocked and trains will not run between the two. Replacement road transport is being put in place and TfW tickets are currently being accepted by Northern, Avanti, GWR and CrossCountry, it said.

Disruption is expected to last until the end of the day and a spokesperson for the company advised anyone travelling on Thursday to check before they travel. A spokesperson for West Midlands Ambulance Service said it was "called to an incident on the railway track at Nordan Farm, Leominster, at 10.46am".

"On arrival crews found a man who was a passenger on the train, they treated him for non-life threatening injuries before conveying him by air ambulance to Hereford County Hospital," they added. "A woman was also treated for injuries not believed to be serious and conveyed by land ambulance to Hereford County Hospital." Enquiries are ongoing into the full circumstances of the incident, British Transport Police added..