A 30-year-old woman died today after losing control of her car in icy conditions and becoming stranded in the path of an oncoming train.

The victim was struck by the 8.33am Peterborough to Lincoln service operated by East Midlands Trains.

A Lincolnshire police spokesman said that in “treacherous” wintry weather the driver's Rover 216 apparently veered into the path of a van at a level crossing in South Drove, near Spalding.

As the car was buffeted on to the tracks the barriers came down. The driver desperately tried to move her car off the line as a train approached at speed, but without success.

“She was making frantic attempts to get off the level-crossing but witnesses said it was very, very quick from when the barriers came down to the collision," said Sergeant Dave Kay, speaking at the scene.

“She was trying to get her car off the level-crossing but because of the arctic conditions it was like a skating rink and she couldn’t get very far.”

Police said the van’s driver managed to steer the Ford Transit off the crossing at West Road following the crash. He, along with one of his passengers, then tried to reach the woman before she was killed but they did not reach her car before the train struck.

A spokesman for Lincolnshire Police said: “The conditions were treacherous with ice and snow on roads in the area, it was undoubtedly a factor. Early indications point to an initial collision with a Ford Transit van just before the level crossing.

“It is believed at this stage this may have shunted the Rover into the tracks. The barriers then came down and the accident took place.”

The train was damaged but no-one on board was hurt. The road was still closed this afternoon and trains were terminating early while an investigation was held into the accident.

The tragedy happened as sub-zero temperatures affected much of Britain’s transport network this morning, causing travel chaos.

Driving conditions were poor with roads and pavements covered in ice as snow. The AA said that by 10.45am it had been called out to around 9,000 breakdowns and was expecting to deal with more than 16,000 stranded motorists by the end of the day - well above the average 9,500 daily calls. Commuting problems were exacerbated by rail cancellations.