Train hits car near tragedy site

The driver of the car suffered whiplash injuries

A train has struck a car on a level crossing near to the spot where two girls were killed on a railways line last weekend.

British Transport Police confirmed that the incident - which caused the brakes to seize on the train carrying 150 passengers - happened near Borth in Aberystwyth, at around 1800BST.

The driver of the car - which was shunted into a nearby garden - suffered whiplash and shock.

Accident victim: Kymberley Allcock

Railtrack spokesman Nigel Barber said the two incidents were completely separate and added that a siren warning motorists of an on-coming train had sounded.

Kymberley Allcock, 8, and her best friend, seven-year-old Sophie George, died instantly by a Lincoln to Aberystwyth diesel train as they played on a railway bridge.

As a result of safety questions raised by residents of the girls' home village of Tre'rddol, new fencing is to be erected to prevent the public reaching the railway line.

On Friday, two separate funerals were held for the girls.

Friends and family of Kymberley were leading tributes to her life at Aberystwyth Crematorium and those of Sophie at Llancynfelyn Church, Tre'r-ddol.

'Lives emptied'

About 100 mourners, including representatives from local police, Central Trains and Railtrack, gathered at the hilltop crematorium in Aberystwyth to pay tribute to Kymberley.

During the service, the congregation was told that their lives had been "emptied" by the deaths and a "void" left that could never be filled.

Kymberley - who had two brothers, Mathew, 11, and Nathan, 13 - was described as a loving girl, curious, interested, bright, affectionate and always smiling.

A funeral service and private burial were being held for Sophie George at Llancynfelyn Church, Tre'r-ddol.

After the tragedy Kymberley's father Anthony Allcock, 39, said the pair had been sitting on the unfenced track pushing stones through gaps into the water below when the accident happened.

The father-of-two - who moved to the village with his family from Telford, Shropshire, last October to get away from drugs and crime - added that he held no one responsible for his daughter's death.