A woman was reportedly saved from death when two strangers pulled her from the tracks at a railway crossing.

It is not clear what the woman was doing on the tracks, but eyewitnesses say she had laid down in the middle of the crossing.

The incident happened yesterday evening in Worthing.

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One of the rescuers was Ashley Noakes, 16, from Worthing. He told The Argus: "I was walking to town after school to buy some jeans and the barriers went down, we were waiting about two minutes when the lady started climbing over.

"I went over and asked her what she was doing and told her to come back, she ignored me and went and laid down on the tracks.

"I called the police as the second man went and brought her over and we both restrained her. She was crying and no one really said much. The police turned up and took her from us. 

"From what I saw it was only me and him that helped which was a shame, but at least we saved her life."

Mr Noakes, a junior firefighter, said he heard the woman tell police she had been staying at the Meadowfield mental unit in Arundel Road, Worthing.

Sussex Police said officers attended the incident at around 4pm.

The second man involved in the rescue did not want to be named or featured in the press.

Return to theargus.co.uk tomorrow for further details and see the full report, with pictures, in Saturday's Argus.

If you saw what happened or know the people involved, e-mail ben.leo@theargus.co.uk or call 01273 544 525.