A WOMAN died after a train collided with her car while it was on a level crossing.

The car, a Volkswagen Golf, had been on a train track at a level crossing in Dunhampstead between Worcester and Droitwich when it was hit by a postal train.

The driver of the train, who is believed to be uninjured, called the emergency services shortly before 7pm last night.

Ambulance crews were called but the woman, who has not been identified, was pronounced dead at the scene.

There were no other casualties and no one else was taken to hospital, said an ambulance spokeswoman.

Four fire brigade appliances from Worcester and Droitwich attended the scene to clear the debris from the track and remove the body from the car.

"The train may well have hit this car at about 100mph," said Hereford and Worcester Fire Brigade spokesman Alec Mackie.

"There wasn't much left of the car and some of it was as far as two miles away trapped under the front of the train."

The train did not de-rail. Worcester police also provided assistance on scene including a police helicopter.

An investigation has been launched by British Transport Police. The findings will be reported to Worcestershire coroner, Victor Round.

"There are no suspicious circumstances," said a British Transport Police spokesman.

"The next of kin have been advised and no further details will be released."

A Network Rail spokesman said no other services on the Birmingham to Cheltenham line had been disrupted.

"Engineers have made checks and have found no fault with the track," said the spokesman.

The postal train had been travelling between Plymouth and Low Fell, in Gateshead.

Fire crews had been prepared for the incident after a training exercise carried out last year at Worcester's Shrub Hill Station, called Operation Rudolph, which simulated a minibus becoming stuck on a level crossing and being hit by a train.

Suzanne Kearney, owner of the Fir Tree Inn near the level crossing in Dunhampstead, said she had heard a "horrendous loud bang".

"We could not see a great deal apart from some of the wreckage of the car.

"There was a terrible burning smell."