Leeds nostalgia: Leeds thief makes off with half a suit... in 1948

The smash happened after a Royal Mail train hurtled into the back of an express train, which had been stopped on the track.

A spokesman for British Railways said the train had stopped after an unknown passenger pulled an emergency cord. At 6.25pm, the mail train from Glasgow to London ran into the back of it, causing both to derail.

Those living nearby heard a loud bang and described it as ‘like a bomb going off’.

In other news, thieves who stole a 1cwt safe from a Hunslet goods yard returned employment and insurance cards which were kept within it. They dragged the safe from its stand out of the front door of the business, Bayford and Co, Ltd.

A taylor who lived above his shop in Cross Gates was woken at 1am after a thief threw a brick through his window and stolen half a suit.

The sound alerted a police officer who happened to be just around the corner at the time and made the 100 yard dash but found the thief gone.

Owner Ralph Batty, said: “I was awakened to the crash just before 1am. When I went downstairs a policeman was already on the scene.”

He added the suit had become tangled and the thief unable to remove the trousers.

After having his window repaired and not without a sense of humour, Mr Batty placed the brick in the display, along with a note which read: “Will the client who exchanged half a suit for this brick please call at the police station where it will be exchanged for a complete suit (broad arrow design)?”