A motorist had a lucky escape when his four-wheel drive vehicle was hit by a two-carriage train on an East Sussex level crossing.

The accident occurred just outside Winchelsea station, near Rye.

The vehicle was crossing the line in Winchelsea Lane when it was struck by the 3.24pm South Central train from Ashford to Hastings.

The driver escaped with minor injuries.

A spokesman for Network Rail said: "The train was not going at any great speed and was not derailed.

"Fortunately, there were no reported injuries to the train driver or passengers. The driver of the car suffered minor injuries.

"A full and proper investigation is being carried out by British Transport Police and Network Rail to establish how the car came to be on the crossing."

The incident, at 3.50pm on Friday, closed the line for about five hours while investigations were carried out.

About 30 train passengers were taken to Hastings by bus.

The impact on other services in the area was small because it happened on a local branch line with an hourly service.