Baby snatched clear as pushchair hoisted by railway barrier in Poole

Luckily the baby had been snatched to safety moments before the barrier was raised yesterday afternoon.

Witness Marc Beeching, who runs the nearby phone-unlocking stall, said: “It was a strange sight – thankfully there was no baby in the pram at the time.

“It became snagged on the gate but the mother must have had time to get the child out – otherwise this could have been terrible.”

But a lot of shoppers didn’t know there was no baby inside and some were quite shocked, said Marc.

He added: “Others were walking underneath, not realising a pram with a couple of shopping bags was hanging over their heads.”

Last year Network Rail revealed they wanted to close the crossing after a catalogue of misuse at the site. A study revealed the red lights had been jumped a staggering 3,000 times during one 10-day period.

Earlier this summer, as British Transport Police officers distributed safety leaflets at the crossing, pedestrians continued to duck under the barriers as the red lights flashed.

However, on this occasion there is nothing to suggest the woman was trying to run under the gates.

Mr Beeching said: “I think she simply got too close to the barrier as it came down.”

Another witness, who was within sight of the crossing but didn’t want to be named, said: “I shudder to think what would have happened if there was a baby in that pushchair – it could have been killed.”

The crossing is covered by CCTV.

A Network Rail spokesman said a technician had checked and it was in full working order. He said as far as they could establish the pushchair wheels were pushed into the skirting which hangs under the barriers. When it raised automatically the buggy remained caught within them.

He added: “It is rare we see this sort of incident and it is fortunate there was not a child in the pushchair. We want to take this opportunity to remind people to use common sense when using level crossings.”