A gardener died of a heart attack after watching a high speed train career into his employer's car.

Ted Miles, 70, saw the three carriage Connex passenger train smash into the car on a level crossing just yards from where he was working.

When he tried to help the driver, Marjorie Heiserfree herself from the wreckage he collapsed suffering from a heart attack.

Neither Mrs Heiser nor any of the passengers on the 11.04am Oxted to Uckfield train suffered serious injuries.

The accident happened yesterday at the crossing in Eridge, near Crowborough.

Mr Miles was taken to the Kent and Sussex Hospital, in Tunbridge Wells, by ambulance but later died.

Mr Miles lived in Groombridge, Kent, four miles from the crash scene with his wife Pamela.

He leaves one daughter.

He had worked for Mrs Heiser and her neighbours in Eridge as a gardener and was digging her a vegetable patch when the crash happened at 11.32am.

Neighbours explained how 79-year-old Mrs Heiser had raised the manual barrier herself after signals told her it was clear to go.

Jo Trepte a close friend of both Mrs Heiser and Mr Miles, said: "Marjorie had raised the barrier with the lights on green and got back into the car.

"But she hadn't noticed they had turned red. She drove onto the track and that's when the train hit her.

"The car spun right round and landed some way down the track. When I got there Marjorie was trapped in the car and Ted was already there. I said to him: 'What can I do?

"He said to me to go back inside and to leave him to it. There was nothing either of us could do."

Mrs Heiser was taken to the Kent and Sussex Hospital in an ambulance with her daughter, who lives next doorto her on Forge Farm.

She remains in hospital with two cracked ribs. Her condition is described as stable.

Mrs Trepte said she was inside her house when Ted collapsed and only realised he had suffered the heart attack when an ambulance arrived and paramedics tried to resuscitate him.

She paid tribute to Mr Miles, describing him as 'a wonderful friend'.

Mrs Trepte said: "He would do anything to help anyone. He was so kind and helpful - always thinking of others before himself.

"He was a wonderful friend - I will always remember him for that.

"Ted was my gardener for 20 years. But more than that, he was a very close friend. He was a very fit 70-year-old man and very active for his age."

Railtrack, Connex and British Transport Police officials launched an investigation to find out why the crash happened.

A Railtrack spokesman said: "The train was not de-railed and fortunately there were no injuries as a direct consequence of the crash.

"Our engineers and emergency staff were on the scene quickly and we will assess the situation.

"There were no injuries to passengers on board the train."

British Transport Police chiefs said a full investigation had been launched into how the train had come to collide with the car.

Passengers on board the train, which was travelling at around 60mph at the time of the crash, were released from the train three hours after the accident.