Two engineers' deaths accidental

Investigators spent hours sifting through debris

The deaths of two men at a rail crossing in Lincolnshire have been ruled accidental at an inquest.

Electricity engineers Vic Bee, 50, and Roy Wilkinson, 47, both from the Boston area, died when their van was struck by a train in December 2004.

They were carrying out routine maintenance work near Helpringham Fen.

Central Networks spokesman Phil Nicholson said: "Both Roy and Vic were very experienced guys and will be sadly missed by everyone."

User-worked crossing

The verdict was given by a coroner's jury at Sleaford Magistrates' Court on Thursday.

The accident involved a single-carriage Central Trains 153 diesel.

The train driver and guard were taken to hospital suffering from shock.

The incident was just a few miles from the scene of a similar collision a month earlier when a train full of schoolchildren hit level crossing barriers at Rowston.

The train had left Peterborough at 1241GMTand collided with the van 45 minutes later on what is known as a user-worked crossing.

Network Rail said there are 3,967 user-worked crossings, which are usually on private land in rural areas and do not have automatic gates.