A young man has been hit and killed by a train in an horrific accident.

The 22-year-old victim is the sixth person to die on the county's tracks this year.

The latest tragedy happened just east of East Worthing train station during the early hours of Sunday morning.

British Transport Police have described the death as "unexplained" and are currently reviewing CCTV footage from the area.

However officers have ruled out suicide and believe it is a tragic accident.

A Sussex MP has called for an urgent inquiry to establish exactly how and why he died.

Tim Loughton, MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, said he has no specific worries about safety in the areas either side of East Worthing station but called on police to swiftly establish what happened in a bid to possible further deaths.

He said: "I'm not aware of any specific issues to do with areas around the station.

"However I'm very concerned that an accident has happened and would call for an urgent enquiry. I would urge the police to find out what has happened as quickly as possible."

The tragedy comes less than two weeks after the death of GP Alan Barker who was struck by a train in Southease near Lewes.

Meanwhile Brett Heath, also known as Brett Ross, aged 19, from Crawley, died instantly when he was run down after squeezing through a level crossing at Horsham Road in Crawley on August 16.

Gill Tanner, 52, of Southwick, was also killed after she was struck on the line at Southwick station on July 9 and Daniel Bishop, 21, threw himself under a train at Lake Lane, Barnham, near Bognor on May 10.

Right at the start of the year Adam Blackwood, of Cornwall Road, Littlehampton, was walking two girls home with a friend on New Year's Day when he was hit by a train and killed.

There have now been at least three people killed by trains at East Worthing station since 2000.

Official figures show that 44 people were killed by trains in the South East since 2006 of which e ight were recorded as suicides.

A spokesman for Network Rail said it would "fully co-operate" with British Transport Police in the investigation into this latest death.

The spokesman said: "Obviously any death on the railway line is a tragedy and we will do all we can to find out why this happened."

Passengers faced delays of around 60 minutes on Sunday morning as emergency services cleared the area.

Police were alerted to the accident around 6.14am on Sunday after the driver of 5.41am Chichester to Victoria train reported seeing a body on the line 200 yards east of the station. The train was travelling at around 75mph.

South East Coast Ambulance Service declared the man dead at the scene.

An inquest will be held. The man's family has been informed.

Leave your tributes to the dead man below.