A UNIVERSITY student left his family and friends baffled after he walked onto a railway line and took his own life, an inquest heard.

Physics undergraduate Liam Thompson had not told those closest to him he was unhappy, before he was struck by a train between Burnley Manchester Road station and the Hufling Lane level crossing, the town's coroner's court was told.

MORE TOP STORIES:

But East Lancashire Coroner Richard Taylor said the 20-year-old from Burnley had made it clear in a series of notes that he intended to take his own life just after New Year's celebrations.

Liam, who attended Salford University, had been out around the town centre with friends to a number of pubs and clubs before he briefly disappeared, prompting a police appeal.

He was found with fatal injuries on the Copy Pit Line heading out of Burnley shortly afterwards, the inquest heard.

Temporary sergeant Peter Wilcock, of the British Transport Police, said: "There was some CCTV footage from Burnley Manchester Road station which does show a young man, that appears to match the description of Liam, early that morning."

Further investigations by the CID department of the transport police had not managed to establish which of the three trains travelling along the line, before the discovery of the student's body, may have struck him.

The inquest heard that one of Liam's friends recalled him being insistent about taking a £20 'for a last drink' before departing from the town centre.

His mother Trudi Thompson told the hearing that her son had appeared to be enthusiastic about his studies and had given no indication that he was unhappy.

Liam had taken a year off from his studies to look after his brother but had returned home for Christmas last year and met up with friends who were studying at universities in Coventry and Lancaster.

Later a note was found though, penned by Liam, which outlined how he intended to take his own life, which gave no obvious reasoning, according to the coroner.

Before recording a suicide verdict, Mr Taylor said: "It is quite clearly a note to say that if it was found that by that time he will have killed himself and he went into some detail about how he was going to do this."

Liam was described as a 'kind-hearted person who never wanted to hurt anyone' by his family, who had given no hint that he was unhappy at the time.