A MARLBOROUGH mum's worst nightmare came true on Saturday afternoon when a train's sliding doors closed in her face and disappeared down the track with her two young children on board.

Juliette Plank, of St John's Close, banged desperately on the sides of the train as it pulled out of Hungerford Station with her four-year-old son, Ross, and two-year-old daughter, Mai, crying inside.

It was a frightening ending to a pleasant day out for the family. They had taken the train from Great Bedwyn to Hungerford and were preparing to board the train to come home at 2.50pm when the incident took place.

Mrs Plank said: "I had put the kids on the train and was picking up the pushchair and my bag when the doors closed without warning. I shouted to the driver to stop and banged on the sides of the train but it just carried on out of the station."

Mrs Plank was beside herself. She rang 999 and phoned her mother-in-law Julia Plank, who lives in Lockeridge, to rush and meet the train as it arrived in Great Bedwyn.

Her mother-in-law arrived at Great Bedwyn in time to see the train move slowly off. But fortunately it was terminating there and was being drawn into the sidings. Staff assured her the children were safely with the driver and would be with her shortly.

Meanwhile, Mrs Plank had been given a lift by a passenger who had got off the train in Hungerford. She arrived at Great Bedwyn a few moments later when there was a tearful reunion with her children.

Mrs Plank said: "I spoke to the driver and he was most apologetic but he said he didn't know there were any children on the train. Apparently, under new rules, he is only allowed to stop for one minute at the station and once the doors are closed he cannot look back to see if there is anyone on the platform. I find that very worrying.

"I would like to thank the passengers who helped me, particularly the lady who gave me a lift to Great Bedwyn, and the gentleman who phoned the transport police."

A spokesman for Thames Trains, which operates the route between Hungerford and Great Bedwyn, said it was a most unfortunate incident and apologised to Mrs Plank for her ordeal.

He said: "These kind of incidents are thankfully very rare and the driver said he cannot understand how it happened.

"Normally the driver can monitor the comings and goings on the platform by mirrors or CCTV cameras. Hungerford doesn't have these things. As soon as he realised he had unaccompanied children on the train he contacted British Transport Police who had already been informed of the incident.

"As far as I can see, everyone acted in the proper way and it was an unfortunate sequence of events."