NETWORK Rail has put the brakes on 'Hogwarts Express' operator West Coast Railway Company after one of its locomotives missed a 100mph collision by seconds near Royal Wootton Bassett in one of the 'most serious cases this year'.

The unprecedented action has been brought against WCR after one of its steam trains passed a signal set at danger to accommodate the safe passage of a First Great Western service on March 7.

The 13-carriage Cathedrals Express service pulled by locomotive Tangmere had overrun the danger signal by 700 yards, and stopped across the double line junction at Bassett, just one minute after the previous train had passed through.

The Battle of Britain class steam loco was pulling the Cathedrals Express service between Bristol Temple Meads and Southend Victoria.

It is believed that it was First Great Western's 15.28 Swansea to London Paddington high-speed passenger service which it narrowly avoided.

Following a meeting on March 30, which Network Rail say exposed inadequate controls and communication systems within the company, a total network ban has been imposed upon WCR, which also operates the Hogwarts Express locomotive, until serious safety concerns are addressed.

This is the first time a total ban has been given to any rail operator.

An investigation is currently underway into the events, which happened at around 5.25pm on March 7, and the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has said it has seen evidence that the driver and fireman of the cab took steps to negate the effects of the automatic braking system.

The Signal Passed At Danger (SPAD) incident has been deemed as the most serious this year.

The suspension notice states: “Network Rail has had concerns about WCR’s performance of its Safety Obligations for some time, and recent events lead Network Rail to believe that the operations of WCR are a threat to the safe operation of the railway."

Those concerns include: "WCR’s senior management response to the recent Signal Passed at Danger at SN45. This ranked as the most serious SPAD that has taken place this year when the industry risk ranking methodology was applied.

“The response by the senior management of WCR to the issues raised in the meeting of March 30 2015, where WCR demonstrated that its controls, communication and commitment following the recent SPAD were inadequate.”

West Coast Railways has now been given a deadline of May 15 to remedy at least five of the seven shortfalls in its operations which have been identified.

WCR is based in Lancashire. In 1998 the company became the first privately-owned company to be given a licence as a train operating company.

The company owns and runs steam locomotive 5972 Olton Hall as Hogwarts Castle for the Harry Potter film series, the 'Hogwarts Express' train featuring each films.

A spokesperson for Network Rail said: "Network Rail has issued a suspension notice to West Coast Railway Company Limited as a result of ongoing safety concerns.

"This decision has not been taken lightly, however safety will always be our number one priority.

"We have set out a number of actions to address the safety concerns raised and will continue to work with WCR to ensure their services can run safely in the future."