A train was evacuated after it collided with a supermarket trolley left on a railway line by a "mindless vandal".

The crash happened on Sunday night, as an eight-carriage Great Northern Train was approaching King's Lynn station.

Great Northern, which runs services between Lynn and London King's Cross, said: "On Sunday night one of our eight-carriage Great Northern trains hit a supermarket trolley on the tracks about a mile from its final destination of King’s Lynn.

"This was a mindless act of vandalism that endangered everyone on board. Thankfully, no-one was hurt.

"The driver checked and confirmed everyone on board was safe and uninjured.

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"Unfortunately, however, the shopping trolley was wedged beneath the train, so a decision was taken to separate the rear four-carriage unit and use this to take the passengers back to the previous station, Watlington, around six miles away.

"From here we arranged taxis to ferry the passengers on to King’s Lynn as quickly as possible."

Police are now investigating the incident. A British Transport Police spokesman said: "Officers were called to the line near King's Lynn railway station just after 7.30pm on Sunday following a report of a stuck train.

"Officers attended and discovered a trolley stuck underneath the train.

"There were no reported injuries and enquiries are ongoing to establish how the trolley came to be on the tracks."

Fire crews from Lynn and Terrington were called to assist at the scene, a single-track section of the line near the Campbell's Meadow retail park, where trains slow as they approach the station.