Shocked onlookers watched the “incredibly reckless behaviour” of a woman who strolled across a busy railway crossing as a train approached.

Last weekend, bemused Barmouth resident John Lewis witnessed a woman ignore the lights, alarms, barriers and threats of fines surrounding the crossing before slowly strolling across the busy railway line, just metres away from an approaching train.

Describing her behaviour as “very dangerous”, Mr Lewis was full of praise for the train driver involved, who had stopped the train before there was an accident.

The event, which Mr Lewis uploaded onto Twitter, took place on Saturday afternoon, 19 January.

“I was on the platform waiting to catch this train to Pwllheli myself when I spotted this person walking slowly across the crossing before the barriers came down,” said Mr Lewis, a driving instructor in the town.

“She basically ignored the lights and warning sounds and wandered around the tracks.

“The train driver waited but eventually had to exit his cab and raise the barriers – only then did the person wander off slowly and the train was safe to continue.”

British Transport Police said: “The video shows how dangerous it can be to misuse a level crossing.

“Ignoring the warning signals and crossing when the barrier is down is incredibly reckless behaviour and this woman risked her life by doing so.”

It is not the first time Mr Lewis has caught people abusing the railway crossing on film, after he captured a man, woman and child darting under the closing barriers in August 2017.

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