OUTPOURING OF SHOCK AND SYMPATHY FOR VICTIM OF TOWN'S RAIL INCIDENT

FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES DESCRIBE 41-YEAR-OLD AS 'TOP LAD WHO LOVED A LAUGH'

FRIENDS and acquaintances of an Atherstone man struck by a train have been "shocked" and "saddened" by his death.

Today the town's social media forums were in contemplative mood about the fatal incident and the victim, named locally as Jordan Shilton.

The 41-year-old was described as "top lad who loved a laugh" whose passing would mean he was "back with his dad, both playing up and enjoying a joke over a beer".

One woman said she had been left "totally heartbroken" by the news having spent "some of the best times in my life with him".

Officers from British Transport Police and crews from West Midlands Ambulance Service were called to the town's railway station yesterday afternoon after a passenger train had been stopped just past Mancetter Bridge towards Atherstone by Westwood Road.

London North Western Railway confirmed that someone had been hit by a locomotive and all services halted in the area.

BTP vehicles and an ambulance were seen parked at the town's railway station while an air ambulance hovered overhead.

Nub News reported yesterday in a statement from LNR: "A person has been struck by a train at Atherstone, hence the attendance of the emergency services."

Alternative transport was arranged as the line between Rugby and Stafford was severely affected by the incident. The disruption to rail commuters lasted well into the late evening.