A NEWLY qualified train driver has been offered counselling after a 60-year-old woman fell under his train at Wickford railway station.

The driver - who was fully trained but was being mentored by a more experienced driver - was helpless to halt the Southend-bound train as it approached the station on Friday morning.

Witnesses say they saw the woman sitting on the platform, dangling her legs over the side at the time of the accident. The driver repeatedly sounded his horn but the woman appear oblivious.

One commuter told the Echo: "She wouldn't move and was dragged under the train. The poor driver must have been in a right state."

<See Monday's Echo for full details>