A grieving mum today told of her shock after her son was hit by a train and killed near Oxford.

Welder Antony Kevis, 25, had spent Tuesday evening in a pub, miles from the railway line.

His mother Jenny Kevis, of Miller Road, Wheatley, told the Oxford Mail: "I just cannot take it in. I do not know how I am going to live a normal life. It is just a nightmare."

She said Antony was a popular man who enjoyed football. He had been in the White Horse pub, Headington, watching England's last World Cup match before he was killed.

Pub landlady Jo Karpowicz saw Mr Kevis that night. She said: "He is not a big drinker so I would not say he had been drinking an awful lot. Not to the extent that he was out of his head. He was a gentle person, he never caused any problems. He was a bit of a loner. We are all quite shocked."

Mr Kevis worked at Oxford Automotive Components and his boss Rod Whitfield paid tribute to him in a letter to Mrs Kevis.

He said: "Tony was such a bubbly character that he did not have a single enemy at OAC. "I shall miss him greatly. I was always being accused by my team leaders of treating him like a wayward son rather than someone who worked for me."

Police are appealing for anyone who saw Antony between 11.15pm and 12.20am to call 0118 959 0950.

Police spokesman Duncan McGraw said Mr Kevis had arrived at the White Horse at 7.30pm on Tuesday with friends and left the pub at 11.15pm. "We don't know what he did for the hour between then and being in collision with a train at Botley Road some miles away."

A train driver reported finding a body 200 yards south of the Botley Road bridge. It was judged he had been hit by a train.

Mr Kevis was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, by ambulance but died from his injuries shortly after he arrived there.

Anyone with information should contact Sgt Dick Evans of the British Transport Police on 0118-959 0950.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.