A BOY nearly fell through a moving steam train between Staverton and Buckfastleigh after trying to use an ‘out of order’ toilet,’ investigators have been told.

The youngster and his mum, who saved him from disaster, were horrified to find the floor of the toilet was missing as part of a previous maintenance job involving brakes.

The 20 mph near-miss on South Devon Railway happened on June 22 with the youngster escaping with minor bruising.

It’s believed the WC door had been tightly secured - but it may have been violated some time earlier by a passenger desperate to use the facility.

The mum, who has not been named, was able to grab her lad before he fell towards the moving wheels.

The missing floor had not been replaced after work on the brakes had been completed.

The incident - on the 1pm service’s fourth carriage - is being probed by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) after it was reported three days after the drama.

SDR, in a statement, said: ‘On the day in question, something clearly went wrong with our safety control and hazard-monitoring systems as evidenced by the incident having taken place. It simply should not have a happened.’

The matter is also being investigated by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

One supporter of the popular SDR facility said: ‘I just hope that whatever it was was, it will not be seen as a big failing on the part of the railway. I know that if anything is wrong with the trains, they simply don’t run them. Safety is always paramount.’