A FATHER-of-two was killed by a high-speed train as it passed through Bolton on a dark and foggy night.

Lee Haslam, aged 31, died instantly during the accident on a railway line near his home in Towers Avenue, Deane.

Train driver Stephen Winnard told a jury at Bolton he was accelerating to 60 miles an hour when he felt a jolt and slammed on the brakes.

He searched beneath the carriages and found Mr Haslam's body next to the track.

"At first I thought someone had put a stone on the line," said Mr Winnard. "Then I saw the body."

The court was told that unemployed Mr Haslam, who was staying with his mother, got up at 2pm on January 6 and went to watch television with his brother at a friend's house. He later left to say he was going to see his mother.

The jury was told that Mr Haslam had been addicted to heroin and had been prescribed methadone by doctors.

But pathologist Dr Jonathan Pearson said he did not have enough methadone in his body to reduce his level of consciousness.

Mr Haslam had recently split up from his partner Linda Wallace but was still in close contact with his children Emma and Aaron. Miss Wallace descibed him as "a good father".

Sergeant James Fitzpatrick of the British Transport Police said he believed no other person had been involved.

Mr Haslam had no injuries that would indicate he had fallen down the railway embankment.

The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

, Mr Haslam's brother Steven said: "He was a belting brother. I was with him every day. I still can't believe what happened."