TRAGEDY struck the West Coast railway line at Tebay, today, when a runaway trolley ploughed into a gang of maintenance workers killing four and injuring several others.

Shortly before 6am a flat-bed trolley 15ft in length and loaded with replacement track detached itself from The Scout Green Depot four miles north of Tebay and headed south to where a group of between 11 and 13 workers were conducting maintenace work on the line.

The trolley was estimated to be travelling at over 30mph when it struck the workers, killing four instantly and coming to halt a mile further down the line.

The section of track being worked on was closed at the time and the gang would not have been expecting any vehicles on the line in that area.

The fact that the workers were operating in complete darkness combined with the silence of the trolley, which operates without an engine, gave them little warning of the imminent danger.

British Transport Police are treating the accident site as a crime scene until they can establish the cause of the incident and are working closely with Cumbria Constabulary and the Health and Safety Executive in the investigation.

Transport Police spokesman Peter Davies described a "scene of devastation" and stressed that thoughts were now with both the survivors of the crash and the families of those who lost their lives.

He went on to indicate that the investigation would examine several crucial factors including how and why the trolley was able to leave the Scout Green Depot and why there was no lookout system in place at the work site to alert the workers of the trolley's approach.

Cumbria Police have set up a helpline for people concerned about friends or relatives who may have been working in the area at the time on 01768 217400.