A MAN was killed by a high speed train on the East Coast mainline on Friday.

Police are now trying to identify the person, thought to be in his fifties and inform his family.The driver of the Kings Cross to Glasgow train rang British Transport Police just before 10.15am to tell them he had hit a man near a road bridge not far from Plawsworth Viaduct, near Chester-le-Street.

Officers from Chester-le-Street police also arrived at the scene and discovered a car parked nearby which they believe belonged to the deceased.

A spokesman for Great North Eastern Railways said train was delayed for about an hour and a half and about four other trains were delayed for up to an hour, but the track was reopened at midday.

He said: "I don't know the state of the driver. But routinely we do stop the train at the next station to make sure the driver is OK to carry on."

The body has been taken to the University Hospital of North Durham and the coroner's officer has been informed. An inquest is expected to open sometime next week.

A spokesman for British Transport Police said they were not treating the death as suspicious and were still carrying out investigations into the circumstances surrounding the death.