RESIDENTS fear that another accident is imminent on a level crossing where a 52- year-old woman died last weekend.

Jane Harding was killed when the black Volkswagen Touareg she was travelling in was in collision with a train at Moreton-on-Lugg, near Hereford, on Saturday morning.

Many drivers are now too scared to pass over the railway tracks, believing the level crossing is unsafe.

Mrs Harding’s husband Mark, who was driving the Volkswagen, has told friends the barriers were down for five minutes, blocking the road across the line.

But when they lifted, without a train passing, he crossed the railway into the path of the Manchester to Milford Haven train.

Mr Harding sustained serious shoulder and pelvic injuries and was taken to Hereford County Hospital.

He has since been released and is recovering at home.

A gold Vauxhall Astra was also hit, injuring a woman and her 12-year-old daughter.

Those working near the level crossing have backed up Mr Harding’s claim, saying he would only have gone on to the tracks when the barrier was raised.

Mike Greene, managing director of ABC Print in Moreton-on-Lugg, said: “It is very shocking and no one can see how it happened.

“When the barriers go up, you automatically think that it is OK to go.

“Two cars crossed the line from different sides of the track at the same time, so obviously something went wrong. Until I have answers I am not going to use the crossing.”

Employee Phil Watts said: “I have no intention of using it for the time being, as the accident is something that you will never forget.”

The manned crossing, which underwent maintenance work in the autumn, was re-opened at 3.30am on Monday after safety checks took place.

But Moreton-on-Lugg resident Roger Newton claims that one of the barriers was not working properly at 9am on Monday.

“I was walking towards the crossing when I noticed that the barriers were malfunctioning,”

he said.

“A Network Rail employee even had to walk across the track and physically push it up and down. Even a member of the public had to help out.”

Mr Newton added that traffic had to stop while the problem was sorted and was only allowed to go across the line when the barriers were working again.

“The signalman went back into his box and started pressing the buttons and everything went back to normal,” said Mr Newton.

“I am staggered that the barriers were not working again just five-and-a-half hours after it was reopened and just two days after a fatal accident.”

Rachel Blackman, spokesman for Network Rail, said the crossing would only have been re-opened after an independent regulator had checked it and deemed it safe.

She added that she was unaware of any problems with the barriers after they had re-opened.

Brian Price, spokesman for British Transport Police (BTP), said that it was unclear how long their investigation would last.

He said: “The investigation has the full co-operation of Network Rail, train company Arriva Trains Wales and other industry partners, and BTP officers are following a number of lines of enquiry to establish the sequence of events which led to the crash.”