Boy almost falls through floor of moving train

A YOUNG boy almost fell to his death through a hole in the floor of a moving tourist train.

The near miss came when he went to use the lavatory and opened the door to find the floor missing and the carriage wheels exposed below.

His mother managed to grab hold of him and prevent him slipping onto the undercarriage and tracks.

The boy suffered minor bruising and he and his mother were treated for shock after the incident on the South Devon Railway on June 22. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch is now investigating.

Its initial report said that workers had removed the flooring in the lavatory to repair the braking system on the ageing former British Rail carriage.

At the time the train, which was travelling from Totnes Riverside to Buckfastleigh, was doing around 20mph.

The South Devon Railway is the longest established steam railway in the south west and runs for seven miles along the Dart Valley.

A spokesman for the railway said the company took the incident “extremely seriously” and added that it “simply should not have happened”.