Today marks the tenth anniversary of the Potters Bar rail crash that claimed the lives of seven people and left dozens injured.

Community leaders will gather outside the railway station to pay their respects during a minute’s silence at 12.46pm, the exact moment the Kings Lynn train derailed and hit the station platform.

Councillor John Donne was on his way to see a friend at the time but a short distance down The Broadway he heard a strange thud which caused him to stop.

“I had just gone under the railway bridge, when there was a terrible noise. And then it was silent – a stunned silence.”

Cllr Donne, who has served the Parkfield ward for 20 years, knows he was incredibly lucky that day to have escaped harm.

Agnes Quinlivan, who had been walking under the bridge at the same moment, was not so fortunate.

The 80-year-old was killed by falling masonry as she made her way home after attending the local over 60s social club.

Six other people who were on board the train also died, and 76 were injured.

“I couldn’t believe what was happening,” recalled Cllr Donne.

“I made a detour back to the station, where I met up with the Reverend Peter Bevan to see if there was anything we could do. There was no access to the station, but from the station forecourt you could see the crashed train.

“One carriage was on its side and had wedged underneath the platform.

“The emergency services were brilliant. There were vehicles from Hertfordshire Fire Brigade and Hertfordshire Ambulance Service, and they were assisted by outside services from London.

“I spent 32 years in the London Ambulance Service and I saw lots of disasters. But I attended scenes where something had already happened. This was the first time I was there when it actually did happen.”

Hertsmere’s Mayor Peter Knell will be lighting a candle on behalf of the Potters Bar community at a memorial service marking the 10th anniversary of the crash this afternoon.

He is a taxi driver and ferried a group of students who had survived the crash back to Kings Cross.

He said: “When I arrived at the station, I was in complete shock at what I saw. It was like a disaster scene out of a film.

“The students told me when they boarded the train at Kings Cross they wanted to sit together in a four-seater in the last carriage.

“But a man was already sitting there, so they moved to the next carriage. This is what saved their lives.

“The people of Potters Bar have never forgotten this disaster. We will always remember those who lost their lives and those who were injured.”

A service will be held at 12:50pm at the Memorial Garden outside the front of Potters Bar Station led by Rev Michael Burns with a minute's silence at 12:56pm.

A second service will be held at Our Lady & St Vincent Church at 1:15pm with Bishop John Sherrington and clergy from the other churches in Potters Bar, followed by a dedication of a bench in memory of the seven people who lost their lives.