A DRIVER leapt from his runaway car just seconds before it was hit by a high-speed train at North Rode.

The man had parked his 4x4 in a UPS parcel depot in North Rode, between Macclesfield and Congleton, and walked away.

Seconds later, the car rolled 18ft down an embankment and onto the railway line.

A Rail Accident Investigation Branch report into the December 18, 2008, incident has now revealed the man ran after the car and was desperately trying to move it from the track when he saw the train from Manchester coming.

He jumped to safety with only seconds to spare.

The train, which was heading to Stoke-on-Trent carrying 28 passengers, hit the Nissan Terrano at 90mph and was then derailed. The train driver, who was injured, saw the car a second before he hit it and was unable to brake.

The report says the car driver ‘abandoned the car, dived onto the bank and heard a loud bang’. A second train carrying 78 passengers to Manchester from Bristol was travelling at 105mph when it hit thecrash debris.

The car driver had parked up at the depot when another motorist saw it roll forward, through a fence, missing two concrete fence posts and two trees as it went downhill. He told the car’s owner what had happened.

The report concludes the collision happened after the car was ‘inadequately braked’.

It says: "The driver stated that he left the keys in the ignition, but could not remember if he applied the handbrake.

"CCTV footage shows that the car started to roll forward immediately after the driver got out and closed the door."

Paramedics, police and firefighters were called after the crash. Passengers were checked over before being taken to nearby stations.

The report says UPS and Network Rail did not identify the risk of a vehicle going onto the track from the car park.

It says: "The severity of the consequences may have been different if the train had derailed further to the left and struck the bridge, jack-knifed, or if the train had derailed to the right and moved into the path of the northbound train."

The report recommended Network Rail advise UPS about what to do if another car goes on the track at the depot and says UPS should reduce the risk by replacing the barrier at the edge of its car park.

It adds that Network Rail should work with the Health and Safety Executive to identify sites where the risk of cars going onto the track is highest.