WORRIED rail passengers had an early morning scare when their train ploughed into a road sign lying across the line near Malvern Link Station.

Saturday's 5.38am Thames Train service from Great Malvern was approaching Malvern Link when passengers heard the sickening crunch of metal beneath the wheels.

The train stopped at Malvern Link where the sign was found lodged underneath one of the carriages. Six passengers were on board.

"I heard the sound of crunching metal and immediately knew we'd hit something," said passenger Jim Collins, who had been travelling to work in Worcester.

"I was the only person in the carriage at the time and the train continued on to Malvern Link station, but I could hear something being dragged along the track beneath me.

"When we stopped at Malvern Link the driver got out and had a look. When we started again the scraping had stopped.

"Thankfully, there were very few people on the train at the time or the incident could have been much more serious. In light of all the recent rail tragedies, it's very concerning."

A spokesman from Thames Trains said today that the train had been inspected by an engineer after the incident.

"There was minor skirt damage really," he said.

"The train proceeded to Oxford. Obviously we're concerned when things like this get on the tracks, especially something like a road sign."

He would not be drawn on whether the company believed the sign had been thrown on to the tracks by vandals.