A middle-aged man died after being hit by a freight train near a bridge in Ipswich this morning.

Emergency services were called to the incident near a bridge in the A1156/Felixstowe Road area, between the Derby Road and Trimley railway stations, at around 4.50am, the British Transport Police (BTP) said.

The middle-aged man died at the scene, Suffolk Constabulary confirmed.

The incident is not currently being treated as suspicious.

No further details about the man involved in the incident have been released.

Trains between Ipswich and Felixstowe have been cancelled or delayed since 5am. A normal service is expected to resume at 4pm. Bus replacements have been put in place.

A BTP spokesman said: “We were called to an area near the A1156 bridge in Ipswich at 4.54am today to reports that a person had been struck by a train.

“Officers attended alongside paramedics and sadly a person was pronounced dead at the scene.

“We are working to identify them and trace their next of kin.

“The incident is not currently being treated as suspicious.”

The incident involved a freight train, a spokesman for train operator Greater Anglia said.

A separate Greater Anglia statement said: “Due to congestion caused by a late running freight train between Ipswich and Felixstowe fewer trains are able to run.

“Train services running to and from these stations will be cancelled or delayed by up to 15 minutes. Disruption is expected until 4pm.

“To allow freight train congestion to subside, which has been caused by an earlier line blockage this morning where a person was hit by a train between Derby Road and Felixstowe, the following trains are cancelled:

12.58pm Ipswich to Felixstowe

1.28pm Felixstowe to Ipswich

2.58pm Ipswich to Felixstowe

3.28pm Felixstowe to Ipswich

“The cancelled trains will be covered by a rail replacement bus, operated by Panther Travel.

“Passengers at Westerfield should use the help point as the buses will be unable to call there.

“We are sorry if your travel plans are affected by this disruption.”