A MEMORIAL service marking the 50th anniversary of a horrific rail crash that killed scores of Kent people is to be held this coming weekend.

December 4 will mark 50 years to the day that 90 people perished and nearly 200 people were injured in the Lewisham rail crash 1957, which saw two rush hour trains collide in thick fog and a bridge collapse outside the south London train station.

Many of those involved in the accident were people from Tonbridge, Folkestone, Ashford and Ramsgate returning home from work or Christmas shopping in the capital.

The special memorial service will be held on Sunday, December 2, in London - a short distance from where the crash occurred - to honour those who died in the wreckage.

Sir Steve Bullock, the Mayor of Lewisham, said: "The effects of that day had a profound impact on the lives of so many people. It was an awful tragedy.

"I hope that anyone who remembers that day, or who knows someone affected by it, will want to come along to the service to pay their respects. It is so important to remember the loss of so many."

The Lewisham train crash occurred as the delayed 4.56pm service from Cannon Street to Ramsgate hurtled towards St John’s train station.

The air was thick with ‘pea soup’ fog and visibilty was down to little more than 15 metres and, as a result, the train driver missed two vital stop signals and smashed into the back of the 5.18pm service from Charing Cross to Hayes.

The Hayes service slammed into the pillars of an overhead railway bridge, causing a mass of bricks and metal to crash onto the packed carriages below.

A total of 90 people, most of whom were from Kent, died in the crash and a further 176 people were injured. The incident remains the third worst rail disaster in British history.

The memorial service will be held at 3pm at St John’s Church, St John’s Vale, London, SE8 4EA. The service is open to relatives, friends and anyone else who wishes to pay their respects.

Do you remember the Lewisham rail crash? Were you or your relatives affected by the tragedy, or were you present at one of the Kent train stations that the ill-fated Ramsgate service never arrived at?

The KM Group will be publishing special memorial features in many of its newspapers.

If you would like to share your stories and memories of the crash and the aftermath, send them along with your contact details to shanna@thekmgroup.co.uk