POLICE and rail accident investigators are probing how a minicab ended up on its roof on the rail track in Shipley.

And last night they were yet to interview the driver, who had a miracle escape after the blue Skoda Octavia smashed through a fence and rolled down a steep wooded bank, off a 5ft stone wall and on to the busy commuter line shortly after 9am yesterday.

He was the only occupant of the AA Carz private hire cab and taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary for treatment to minor head injuries.

Fire, police and ambulance crews attended the incident which occurred by the Victoria Street bridge over the railway.

No trains were able to pass for some 35 minutes until the badly damaged car had been pulled off the tracks.

A spokesman for British Transport Police said: "BTP officers were called to Shipley railway station following reports that a car had crashed through a fence and onto the track near the station.

"Officers discovered a blue Skoda Estate had crashed though a fence and on to the tracks near Victoria Street bridge.

"The driver of the vehicle suffered minor injuries and was taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary for treatment.

"The car was removed from the line and inquiries are continuing to determine how it came to be on the tracks."

Watch Commander Jav Khan, of Shipley fire station whose crew was first on the scene, said: “My initial concern was that there might have been someone still in the car.

“However, fortunately the male occupant had managed to clamber out and up the embankment.”

He added: “If a train had hit that car it would have been a major incident with potentially catastrophic consequences if it had derailed.

“This is the first incident of this type that I have been to and I have been in the fire service for eight years.

“This man has had a very lucky escape.”

West Yorkshire Fire Service watch manager Julie Carter, who works in the control room, said: “Fortunately the swift actions of the

fire service and Network Rail have averted a potential disaster. We’re just pleased that this incident has ended without tragedy.”

Network Rail investigators joined police scenes of crime officers on the former petrol station forecourt where AA Carz has its offices and parking for cabs beside a busy hand car wash.

A BTP spokesman said it was not yet known if the car had gone backwards or forwards down the slope.

"We are talking to witnesses to piece together what happened and hopefully find out exactly how the car came to be on the tracks."

Staff at the nearby car wash said they had not seen anything and cab drivers who gathered at the scene said they had only arrived after the incident.

"We don't know what happened. It's really lucky no-one was badly hurt," said one driver, who asked not to be named.