Man dies on tracks fleeing police

A man has died on a Lancashire railway line after he jumped on to the tracks to avoid police officers.

The incident on Saturday night happened after a group of men were seen throwing objects at a shop window in Ormskirk.

Police spotted a man they thought was involved but when he saw them he jumped over a wall towards the railway line.

When the officers reached the scene they found him dead on the tracks. The Independent Police Complaints Commission has been informed.

The men were spotted on the town centre's CCTV system throwing objects at a shop window at about 2300 BST.

Police say this information was passed to officers on patrol in the town centre with descriptions of the people involved.

Rail disruptions

A short time later a patrol officer, in company with a Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) reported that they had seen a man fitting one of the descriptions circulated.

However, on seeing the officers the man ran off along Railway Road which crosses the railway line and jumped over the wall towards the railway line.

When the officers looked over the wall where the man went over they saw the body of a man on the railway line below.

A post-mortem examination is due to be carried out to establish the cause of the man's death.

The Mersey Rail line from Liverpool to Ormskirk was closed for about three hours following the incident.

Two men have been arrested in connection with the earlier incident on suspicion of criminal damage, being drunk and disorderly and resisting arrest.