A CAMBRIDGESHIRE lorry driver has been arrested following a train crash in Suffolk.

Deputy Chief Constable Paul Crowther of Suffolk Constabulary confirmed police are expecting to interview the 38-year-old lorry driver, believed to be Eastern European, who was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving last night and is being held at Bury St Edmunds station.

The man is thought to be from the Ely area and was the driver of a 44 tonne tanker which collided with the 5.31pm East Anglia rail service from Sudbury to Marks Tey close to the B1508 Bures Road in Little Cornard.

The crossing where the crash happened is on a track leading to a sewage treatment plant.

The articulated lorry had just deposited its load of sewage at the water treatment works run by Anglian Water and was returning towards the Bures Road when it collided with the train.

A spokesman from Network Rail said: “The crossing is a user-worked crossing with gates and a telephone. The network signaller did not receive a phone call from the user of the crossing.”

Witnesses close to the scene of the carnage said they heard a sound like a “bomb” or an explosion at the time of the impact.

The crash sparked a major rescue operation with police, fire-fighters, paramedics and rail investigators all involved.

The most seriously injured passenger from last night’s rail Suffolk crash is due to be transferred to a specialist London hospital, it has emerged.

The 58-year-old man suffered “life-threatening” injuries in the accident at the user-operated crossing at Little Cornard, near Sudbury.

A total of 17 patients were taken to Colchester and 11 were treated and discharged last night.

Another patient was airlifted to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.

Tim Yeo MP said: “I was travelling on the equivalent train last week. It is a terrible tragedy for the people involved and it is also very important that the value of this line should be recognised.”

National Express East Anglia confirmed that the 17.31 Sudbury – Marks Tey train service collided with a road tanker at Sewage Lane Crossing near Bures at 17.37 last night.

Andrew Chivers, National Express East Anglia’s managing director, said: “Our first priority is the welfare of our passengers and train crew. Our thoughts are with those who are injured and their families.”

He said train services were being replaced by a bus service on the Sudbury – Marks Tey route.