A COMMUTER proud of his record of never arriving late for work died when he drove round a level crossing barrier into the path of a 100mph train, an inquest heard.

Security guard Dennis France, 65, of Curload, may have believed the half-barrier on the Athelney crossing was not working as it had been down for longer than normal.

The court was told that Mr France, who was only a week away from his retirement, had probably been waiting at the barrier for over a minute before deciding to drive through.

The jury heard that the barrier was down for longer than usual following engineering works on the track overnight, when it had been operated manually, before the tragedy on May 21 last year.

Daniel Hembrow said he was driving towards the crossing where Mr France was waiting in his car.

He added: “He then rolled back and went round the barrier ... it happened so quickly. The train just hit the car.”

Train driver William Ashman described how he slammed on the emergency brakes but was helpless to avoid the collision after seeing Mr France’s car on the crossing 100 yards in front of him.

“It all happened so quickly,” said Mr Ashman. “Fortunately the train didn’t derail.

“I couldn’t believe what had happened.”

Cyclist Gemma Miller told how she had walked round the barrier earlier in the morning as it had been down for around five minutes and the inquest heard that Mr France may have become worried about getting to work on time after having to wait well over a minute.

His friend Alison Chedham said he was “reliable, supportive, fun, very kindly, very punctual and conscientious” and was proud of never being late for work.

The jury at last week’s two-day hearing at Shire Hall, Taunton, returned a conclusion of accidental death, with the medical cause traumatic injuries.

West Somerset Coroner Michael Rose said: “In all probability Mr France’s decision (to attempt to drive across the railway crossing) was influenced by a desire to get to work on time, pending his retirement and the prolonged period the barriers had been down due to an earlier movement of an engineering train.”

Mr Rose intends to write to Network Rail to recommend installing a full barrier and moving signal boxes to improve visibility.