A KIDWELLY farmer has spoken of the "hell" he has endured following a crash between a train and his tractor trailer.

John Henry Watkyn-James (pictured) says he is outraged to face an insurance bill of around £100,000 for the smash. "They have blown it totally out of proportion," he said.

The incident happened on January 31 when he was driving a tractor and trailer over the Morfa Maen crossing in Kidwelly, to access fields where horses are kept.

But he left his trailer overhanging the tracks and a train came around the corner, ploughing into the vehicle.

The farmer later pleaded guilty to endangering the safety of persons using the railway and in September was given a 36-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, which he said he was "getting on with".

But Mr Watkyn-James has taken issue with the figure quoted for the damage to the train.

"There was very little damage on the train and there is no way that thing could have cost that much. The company have put in a claim way above what they said in court — a £100,000 claim. It doesn't seem to add up."

The 51-year-old of Limestone Hill Farm, Crwbin described the damage as being contained to "a bit of fibreglass" on the side of the train, adding that he has been through "hell" since January.

"It's unbelievable what happened," he said. "I could never dream that something like that could happen to me. It's just one of those things — bad luck. It's hell.

"Sometimes you hear about other people and think it can never happen to you. But sometimes your luck isn't in."

Following the court case, a British Transport Police spokesman said: "The cost to repair the damaged train was £81,991, while Arriva Trains were hit with further costs of £84,862 accumulated through loss of service."

A spokeswoman for Arriva Trains was this week unable to give any financial details, but said: "In terms of the damage, the train needed a cab repair. That was quite an expensive repair to the fibreglass panels to the front of the train.

"It took a lot of work. It was out of service for about two months while that work was carried out."