A family is coming to terms with the death of a teenager who climbed on to a train roof just before it entered a tunnel.

Thomas Clarke, 18, from Plumpton Green, died instantly after climbing through the window and on top of a moving train following the Lewes bonfire celebrations.

He had caught the 9.23pm Hastings to Victoria train after watching the bonfire processions.

His body was found on the line between Cooksbridge and Plumpton after his friends pulled the emergency cord.

Mr Clarke's older sister Imogen, who lived with her brother in the quiet close in Woodgate Meadow, was yesterday trying to cope with his death.

She said: "It has been very hard. It's still too soon for me to be able to talk about it. I'm just trying to get through the next few days."

British Transport Police are not treating his death as suspicious but are appealing for witnesses.

A police spokesman said: "We have been collecting lots of individual statements and are still trying to piece together exactly what happened."

An inquest was yesterday opened and adjourned by East Sussex Coroner Alan Craze until a later date.