Passengers were thrown from their seats when a commuter train ploughed in to a van at a manual level crossing, a court has been told.

Train driver Mark Lee told Chichester Crown Court he had just seconds to slam on the emergency brake. The train slammed into the vehicle at 55mph, smashing it to "smithereens".

Van driver Anthony Watling, 43, had a miraculous escape in the St Valentine's Day drama, which came close to being a catastrophe as the carriages derailed.

Watling, of Owlbeech Way, Lancing, denies endangering the safety of train passengers and obstructing an engine on a railway.

Nicholas Hall, prosecuting, said Watling and colleague Aaramateo Duggan were moving cookers in a Fiat van at 7pm on February 14, 2001, when they used the private level crossing at Old Salts Farm Road, Lancing.

Mr Duggan got out of the van to open the first gate and walked across the track to open the exit barrier.

He said: "The defendant drove straight across in front of an oncoming train heading west from Shoreham to Lancing.

"As amazing good fortune would have it, the train hit the van behind the driver's seat. The van was smashed to smithereens.

"You may think it miraculous that the defendant was not hurt at all. It could have had catastrophic consequences. Some passengers were hurt and the line was closed for some days."

Mr Duggan told the court he heard Watling revving the van as he crossed to open the second gate.

He said: "I put my hands on the second gate and pushed it open. I heard the crackle of the track and I knew a train was coming.

"I turned round and Mo (Watling) was in front of me. It was split seconds, I put my hands up and said, 'No,' and then it hit.

"All I saw was four carriages going by and no van. I was pretty shaken. In my eyes he was gone and that was the end of it. It was pretty amazing he was still alive."

Mr Lee was driving the 18.35 South Central Brighton-Portsmouth service. He said he had a matter of seconds before he saw the van and hit it.

He said: "I threw the brake handle into emergency but I did not have time to sound the horn. I could feel the train shuddering and I thought we were going to topple over at one point.

"Thankfully, we stayed upright and came to a standstill. We had been derailed.

"The passengers all seemed to be okay when we asked but a lady in a wheelchair was not feeling very well. She had been thrown about a bit."

Later, passengers told the court of their terror as the train hit.

Jessica Kemp was travelling home to Worthing when the crash happened. She said: "All of a sudden it felt like the brakes had locked up.

"There was a scraping noise, passengers were screaming, windows crashed. I assumed the train was derailing, I was scared."

Ms Kemp suffered whiplash and had to have a month's course of physiotherapy, the court was told.

Wheelchair-bound Joyce Hyder was in the guard's van at the moment of impact.

She said: "The lights went out. I could hear breaking glass. There was smoke and the train came to a stop.

"My friend had reacted very quickly and stood in front of me, stopping me from falling out. I was in shock. I kept almost passing out."

Ms Hyder said two weeks later she became very upset and kept "reliving the incident".

There are around 4,000 occupational railway crossings in Britain which are used by tradesmen, who hold keys, and are not open to the public.

The case continues.