A SHOCKED mum has told how her six year old son was toppled off his bike by the Hengisbury Head land train which failed to stop.

Bryony Thorne says six-year-old son Tom – who had only been riding on two wheels for a few months – was reportedly hit by the train which shuttles between the car park and the spit.

Bryony, from Christchurch, was taking a family bike trip with husband Charles and their three sons on Sunday afternoon when the incident happened.

Tom ended up with bruising and black rubber tyre marks on his foot.

Bryony told the Echo: “It was quite scary. It’s a narrow bit of path where he was coming towards us, and Tom is still new on his bike.

“He didn’t give us a chance to get out of the way and stop safely – he just kept going.”

She heard her son wobble to a stop behind her, then fall and start crying.

She added: “Two ladies who saw it happen were quite shocked by it – let alone us. They said the train was moving far too fast and should have slowed down – especially around a small boy on his bike – and I had a two year old on the back of my bike as well.”

She said the driver seemed “completely oblivious” to what had happened, adding: “I think that area should be safe for pedestrians and cyclists – but it was like the driver felt it owned the road and we were in his way.”

Fortunately Tom wasn’t seriously hurt and after a break got back on his bike. “It could have been a lot worse,” added Bryony.

A spokesman for the privately run land train said the operators were aware of what had happened and were looking into it.

The trains could not do more than 10mph, and at the narrow pinch point were the incident happened would “not have been going more than three or four miles per hour at most”, He added: “The trouble is from the outside the speed looks totally different.”

He said the driver had not been aware of the incident, but was trained to do an emergency stop in such an event, as per the three day driver training course which is “based primarily on safety.”

He added: “The driver was shocked – he doesn’t like to think of it – none of us do. We carry thousands and thousands of people and I can’t remember the last time something like this happened.