A coroner has urged the Government to consider fitting automatic brakes to trams after seven people were killed in a crash in Croydon, south London in 2016.

The recommendation was made by south London senior coroner Sarah Ormond-Walshe in a report to prevent future deaths.

She presided over a nine-week inquest at Croydon Town Hall earlier this year which concluded that the victims died as a result of an accident.

Miss Ormond-Walshe wrote: “During the evidence, it became clear that trains have automatic braking systems.

“They are of course different from trams, which are driven by ‘line of sight’.

“However, it seems to me that it would be appropriate for a fresh assessment to be made of whether automatic braking systems would be appropriate for trams.”

She sent the report to the Department for Transport and the Light Rail Safety Standards Board.