TODAY marks the 50th anniversary of the horrific Lewisham rail crash which claimed the lives of so many people from Kent.

On December 4, 1957, two rush-hour trains collided in thick fog outside St John’s train station in Lewisham, killing 90 and injuring 176.

It's an event many relatives and friends of those killed feel has largely been forgotten.

Many of those who escaped death that night, or whose relatives were killed or injured in the smash, remained haunted by the horrors of the event, as there was no commemorative service or support group organised at the time to help them through the grief.

But survivors finally had the opportunity to mourn loved ones when the first ever memorial service was held in Lewisham on Sunday.

Bridget Baker, 61, from Tunbridge Wells, lost her journalist father Rainald Wells in the tragedy. She was 11-years-old at the time.

She said: "There was no memorial service at the time of the crash or afterwards, or any support group to help us deal with the grief.

"In those days, things were just done very differently but I think many people felt the need for something to mark the occasion, and it means so much that something has happened after all these years."

The Rev Christine Bainbridge led prayers at the service at St John’s Church, which was attended by around 55 survivors and relatives of those lost on the foggy December night in 1957.

The crash occurred as the delayed 4.56pm service from Cannon Street to Ramsgate hurtled towards St John’s train station, but thick ‘pea soup’ fog in the air caused the driver to miss two vital stop signals.

The train smashed into the back of the 5.18pm service from Charing Cross to Hayes, which in turn slammed into the pillars of an overhead railway bridge, causing a mass of bricks and metal to crash onto the packed carriages below.

A third train travelling on the bridge miraculously stopped short of tumbling off the overhead rails.

A total of 90 people died in the crash and a further 176 people were injured. Many of those involved in the accident were Tonbridge, Folkestone, Ashford and Ramsgate residents returning home from work or Christmas shopping in the capital.

Speaking at the service, Mayor of Lewisham Sir Steve Bullock paid tribute to the emergency services on the night and the ‘huge generosity of spirit shown by the local community’.

He said: "50 years may have passed and the memories faded from the nation’s mind, but Lewisham will always remember that day.

"Those that survived it have never forgotten, families of victims have never fully recovered and we remember their loss and their suffering.

"On an occasion like this it is important to come together not only to remember but to pray that it will never happen again."