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A tractor driver was nearly hit by a train travelling at 73 mph (117 kmph), an accident investigation report found.

The farm worker was towing a trailer over the level crossing at Thorney Marsh Lane near Castle Cary, Somerset, on the morning of 26 November.

A Great Western Railway train travelling from Westbury to Weymouth narrowly missed the vehicle.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) identified a miscommunication between the driver and a signaller.

In its report, investigators said the train driver saw the tractor starting to cross, sounded the horn and applied the emergency brake.

The train came to a stop 450 metres past the crossing. The train driver and the farm worker then both called the signaller to report the near miss.

CCTV photos from the train showed the tractor and trailer cleared the line when the train was around 30 metres from the crossing.

Four minutes late

The train involved was four minutes late leaving Castle Cary railway station and had not passed the crossing when the tractor driver called the signaller asking if the train had been through.

The RAIB said the signaller did not to hear this correctly and assumed that the train had passed the crossing. He did not confirm this with the driver and told him he could cross.

Investigators said the incident "demonstrates the importance of signallers leading the conversation during phone calls from crossing users who may not be accustomed to safety-critical communications".

It also advised that "signallers fully consider and understand the information available to them when deciding whether to give a crossing user permission to cross the line".