A MOTORIST had a brush with disaster when the car he was driving hit a train after he was dazzled by bright sunshine.

The accident happened at the level crossing at West Knapton, near Malton, North Yorkshire, at 1.15pm this afternoon.

It involved the 10.22am TransPennine Express service from Liverpool to Scarborough.

The driver of the Vauxhall Astra was not injured.

No one on the train was hurt.

A spokeswoman for the Yorkshire Ambulance Service said he was taken to Scarborough Hospital.

A fire brigade spokeswoman said the driver had told emergency services he had been dazzled by the sun and had clipped the back of the train.

A fire crew used pads to soak up fuel spilled at the scene. A spokeswoman for Network Rail said engineers had to confirm that the train was fit to be moved and that there had been no damage to the track.

She added that there had been some damage to the level crossing itself.

The spokeswoman said that the train was moved during the afternoon, but the line remained closed while investigations were carried out by British Transport Police and North Yorkshire Police.

Network Rail said services had been disrupted because the train involved had been due to make the return journey to Merseyside.

Another train was used, which departed from Malton rather than Scarborough.

Witnesses are asked to call British Transport Police on 0800-40-50-40.