A drunken man stood in front of a speeding train and waited for it to hit him, an inquest has heard.

Simon Eugene, 26, of Axtell Close, Kidlington, died instantly when a Reading to Banbury train, travelling at 95mph, struck him on a level crossing in the village.

But Oxfordshire Coroner Nicholas Gardiner recorded an open verdict, saying he could not be sure of Mr Eugene's intentions.

During the inquest, on Wednesday, April 22, Oxford Coroner's Court heard evidence from retail salesman Mr Eugene's landlady, Marion Franklin, who saw the incident in October. She said Mr Eugene, who she thought might have suffered from depression, appeared to be drunk on the night he died.

Mrs Franklin followed her lodger, who had said he wanted to go for a walk, to the railway line near her home, where he lay down, saying he wanted to go to sleep.

The inquest was told she managed to drag him away from the line moments before an oncoming train passed through and attempted to usher him home. She said: "I tried to get him back to my house. He asked where I was, when I was right next to him."

But seconds later he escaped from her side and stood on the railway again.

As an alarm signalled the approach of another train Mrs Franklin, who tried to alert the emergency services by using a phone at the crossing, watched as Mr Eugene was killed.

She said: "I watched as the train hit him - I was just shouting at him."

In a statement read to the inquest, train driver Simon Davis said that although it was dark, he saw Mr Eugene clasping his head in his hands moments before the train struck him.

He said: "I was facing a man in the centre of the track looking directly towards me. I made an emergency stop and sounded the horn -- I thought he was playing chicken.

"In my opinion, he was committing suicide - he was clearly waiting for a train to hit him."

Consultant pathologist Dr Sanjiv Manek told the inquest that Mr Eugene had suffered massive internal and external injuries and high levels of alcohol were later found in a urine sample.