A RETIRED council worker has described how he fought desperately to save a motorist's life after an horrific collision between a train and a Land Rover on the East Lancashire railway line.

Ken Dickinson battled in vain alongside police to save the man's life by giving him mouth to mouth resuscitation and performing heart massage.

But despite his efforts, farmer Thomas Holt, aged 63, of Edenfield, was pronounced dead at the scene by an emergency doctor. The struggle to save Mr Holt's life followed a collision between his Land Rover and a tourist steam train on a railway crossing at Irwell Vale, near Haslingden, yesterday.

Mr Holt was thrown from the vehicle as it collided with the train, which was taking passengers on the tourist line from Rawtenstall to Bury.

His daughter, in her 20s, managed to scramble free from the vehicle unhurt. She was taken to Fairfield General Hospital and treated for shock.

Mr Dickinson, aged 51, of Bowker Street, who only moved to the village last week from nearby Haslingden, said: "I was in the garden when I heard a huge bang from the railway followed by screaming. I rushed up and I saw the man lying on the ground.

"I started to give him resuscitation with the help a police officer who arrived on the scene and we both carried on until the doctor arrived in the helicopter.

"I just tried to do what I could and it's a shame we weren't able to save him. My heart goes out to his daughter, it must have been a terrible ordeal for her."

Police and the East Lancashire Railway company have launched investigations following the accident which happened at 12.45pm, yards from the station at Irwell Vale where the road crosses the railway line.

The crossing is closed off by iron gates at either side of the railway track which are opened and shut by drivers as they pass through.

Police said there was no indication that the train was travelling at an excessive speed at the time of the collision. None of the 16 passengers were hurt and were all taken back to Rawtenstall by car.

The air ambulance, Lancashire Constabulary's helicopter and the Rossendale Mountain Rescue team attended.

Richard Law, director of operations and safety at the East Lancashire Railway, said: "We are all very upset. Our sympathy goes out to the family."

Villagers expressed their horror at what had happened on the line, which has an exemplary safety record.

The line was opened in 1846 to link the Manchester to Bolton line with Radcliffe and was a popular passenger and freight route which served the Irwell Valley from Bury, via Ramsbottom, to Rawtenstall and beyond.

The last passengers travelled on the Bury to Rawtenstall section in 1972.

After that the East Lancashire Preservation Society restored the line to its former glory.

With assistance from Bury and Rossendale Councils, the line was reopened in 1991 as a tourist attraction.