A doll has been recovered from a railway line in Swindon after a huge emergency response.
It came after a train driver reported seeing a body on the tracks under the bridge in Swindon Road, near Greenbridge, shortly after 1pm today (Friday).
Due to the nature of the sighting, a significant number of 999 resources were sent to the incident – including Wiltshire Air Ambulance, two ambulances, an ambulance commander and fire crews.
Approximately ten police officers from Wiltshire Police and the British Transport Police were also on scene. Incident response officers from Network Rail attended too.
The mainline was closed and trains were halted as emergency services accessed the tracks. Within a short time, they had established that the body was in fact a doll.
The doll was around the size of a five-year-old child. It was wearing blue jeans with a flower pattern, a pink flowery jumper and black shoes.
Its head featured a navy blue hat and long curly blonde locks – enough to dupe somebody into thinking it was a little girl lineside.
A cigarette lighter was also hanging from the doll’s jeans, but it’s not clear why.
The railway line reopened when 999 crews stood down at around 1.35pm.
In a statement on their website, Great Western Railway said: “Following checking reports of an obstruction on the line earlier today between Swindon and Didcot Parkway all lines are now open.
“Train services running through these stations are returning to normal but some services may still be delayed. Disruption is expected until 15:00 19/07.
“Apologies for the disruption to your journey today.”
