A passenger train over-ran a red signal by 573 yards at Didcot Parkway station, a report by the Health and Safety Executive has revealed.

The incident, involving a Thames Trains service, happened on November 24 last year and was the third such incident at the same set of signals.

The case was highlighted in a Health and Safety Executive report on signals passed at danger across the country.

The HSE report said three trains had passed the same signal at danger, the most recent previous incident being on January 1, 1998.

The report said the driver involved in the November 24 case had also been involved in a similar incident on June 22, 1993.

The latest incident, which happened as the 12.48pm Paddington to Oxford train left Platform Three, was one of 44 across the country in November. Only three other trains had gone further beyond red signals before stopping.

A spokesman for the HSE said that the Didcot incident was given a severity level of three out of eight, with eight being the most serious. There were no injuries or damage.

Thames Trains spokesman Jonathan Radley said: "The incident is still under investigation. The driver concerned is undergoing retraining.

"We take all incidents like this extremely seriously and we're doing everything we can, with Railtrack and the HSE, to reduce the number of signals passed at danger.

"The driver's version of events doesn't tie-in with Railtrack's understanding of what happened." he said.

Mr Radley added that the investigation would reveal whether the signal concerned was faulty.

The HSE began publishing details of signals passed at danger after the Paddington Rail disaster in which 31 people died. Among them was father-of-two Anthony Beeton, 47, of Wheatfields, Didcot.