A COACH driver was seriously injured after his vehicle and a steam train collided at a Purbeck railway crossing on Monday.

Emergency services were scrambled to Harman's Cross, between Corfe Castle and Swanage, following reports of the crash at 12.40pm.

The coach's 52-year-old driver - the only person on board - was airlifted to hospital by Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance with serious injuries.

No one on the Swanage Railway train, carrying around 30 passengers including a group of schoolchildren, was injured.

An eyewitness reported how the white Link Rider coach had crept on to the line, before the collision span the coach 90 degrees and left it precariously tilted on a verge.

Jonathan Stedman, who lives on Quarr Farm Road, just yards from the scene of the incident, said: "The coach driver must have bounced out and was trapped between the train and the coach, which was leaning on top of him."

An air ambulance rushed the coach driver, from Swanage, to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester, where he was treated for serious injuries, though they are not thought to be life-threatening.

Witnesses to the drama were too shaken to talk.

Police said it was too early to say how the accident happened.

Sgt Mark Holdgate, of Dorset Police, said: "There are no barriers at the crossing but there will be advance warning of a train when the signals flash. All vehicles are required to stop."

Keith Gooding, director of Swanage Railway, said there had been no reports of faults with the lights and alarms at the unmanned Quarr level crossing.

Link Rider has a shed, which it uses to store vehicles, almost adjacent to the crossing and Anne Hubbard, owner of the Swanage-based company, said they used the crossing every day without problems.

"Until the investigation has been carried out we are all in the dark," she said.

Flashing lights were only installed at the crossing after a motorist collided with a steam train in 1999, miraculously escaping with just a shoulder injury.

The Swanage Railway, a privately-owned company, is now mainly used by tourists and travels from Swanage to Corfe Castle and Norden.

Chief Inspector Rick Dowell, head of Dorset road policing unit, who attended the scene said: "A comprehensive forensic investigation is now taking place.

"It is too early to provide a definitive cause."

The train's four rear carriages, which were carrying the schoolchildren, were removed and taken to Swanage railway station.

The track was cleared by 9.30pm.

Police are appealing for witnesses to the collision. Contact PC Kevin Jones at the Blandford road policing unit on 01305 222222.