Police were today quizzing two youths after a Southend pier train packed with passengers was hit by a workman's truck.

The young men, aged 19 and 20, were arrested on suspicion of endangering lives after they were alleged to have pushed the truck into the train's path yesterday evening.

Police said it was lucky that nobody was badly injured or killed in the incident. The youths were taken into custody immediately following the crash and were today still being questioned.

Fortunately nobody was hurt, but a police spokesman said: "If someone had been walking along the pier or had been standing beside the train they could have been killed."

It is understood the two young men arrested had earlier been asked by pier staff to leave the end of the pier, which is closed off to the public, for causing a nuisance.

Staff told police they then grabbed a wheeled cart used by railway workers to move heavy objects up and down the track and pushed it along the line.

The careering cart went straight into an oncoming train which was filled with passengers.

The train driver tried to stop, but was unable to do so in time and hit the cart. The cart spun around and went off the line and into the railings along the side of the pier.

A spokesman for the Pier and Foreshore department at Southend Council said: "A flat backed truck was pushed along the track by two youths.

"Damage was caused to the points and the railings on the side of the pier after a train went into the truck and as a result foreshore staff were forced to call the police.

"We are upset that a minority could cause damage to a major attraction in Southend. Lives could obviously be put at risk by something like this."

The train can hold 200 passengers, but it was not clear how many people were on board at the time of the incident. The train was not taken out of service.

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