Horror moment woman and child caught in near miss at level crossing as Network Rail issues urgent plea

A woman and young child left a trainspotter in "disbelief" after he watched in horror as the two ducked under a railway level crossing as its barriers closed. Trainspotter Brandon Roberts was left shocked as, while recording at a level crossing in Derbyshire , he caught the woman and child dashing across the railway tracks at Tutbury and Hatton Station as warning lights blared. He captured the startling footage on the Derbyshire-Staffordshire border at 3.22pm on Saturday, April 25. Brandon said he was in "disbelief" after witnessing the smiling mum jog across the tracks as a train was due to arrive, and the shock footage led Network Rail to issue an urgent warning for pedestrians. The video shows a smiling woman wearing sunglasses leading a young boy wearing a cap across the tracks just as the barriers started to close on their side. They appeared to have been following behind a man wearing a brown shirt, who had run in front of them and cleared the tracks first. The spectacle, which was posted on Facebook , attracted dozens of critical comments, and later a warning from Network Rail, which warned of the potential "tragic consequences" of skipping barriers. A spokesperson for the network said: "This kind of behaviour is deeply concerning and could have had tragic consequences." The spokesperson added: "Level crossing barriers and warning lights are there for good reason. Ignoring them not only endangers those taking this action, but also puts train passengers, railway staff and other members of the public at risk too." "One poor decision can change lives forever." The message wasn't lost on members of the public, who did not spare criticism of the woman in the comments under the post on social media. One user said: "This is why we have incidents in the railway, people need to respect LXAs." And another, hammering home the speed that trains travel in the UK and the deadly consequences of playing on the tracks, added: "UK trains travel at over 100mph, if they had tripped on the rail lines, they would both be dead." Another user, while acknowledging that it can take some time at that particular statement for a train to arrive, added that the risk was not worth it. They said: "You just have to sit at it, not risk being knocked out by the barrier!" The shock video comes as Network Rail launches its new 'No Second Chances' campaign calling on members of the public to be careful at level crossings. The network has teamed up with British Transport Police (BTP) "and the wider rail community" after it was found that a concerning proportion of the British population is overconfident at rail crossings. Nationally, the research found, more than eight in ten people - 84 percent - claim they understand the dangers around level crossings – but 97 percent aren't aware it can take a train travelling at 80mph a full mile to come to a complete emergency stop. That distance extends for trains travelling at speeds of 100mph and above on the East Coast Main Line, with 121 near misses documented on the line involving trains and pedestrians in the last five years. Of those, 27 incidents were documented in the year up to March 2026.