A Welsh train driver has recalled feeling "helpless" during a near miss with a man and his dogs. The train Mike Leonard was driving came within a four seconds of hitting a man and his dogs on the Harlech Cliffs level crossing, near the coastal village of Harlech in Gwynedd.
“I saw two white things on the track, I thought they were sheep," Mike, 54, recalled of the incident that happened on July 9. “Then I realised they were dogs and suddenly this elderly man with a walking stick came up from the beach and just stepped out in front of the train, too. The dogs weren't on a lead and the man didn’t even look as he crossed. I was about four seconds away from hitting him."
Just three weeks later, at the same location, another dog owner had a narrow escape after venturing onto the track after their pet - which, again, was not on a lead. The CCTV camera on the train captured the terrifying moment.
