GAVIN and Stacey star Mathew Horne cheated death when he was hit by a train in a boozy mishap on a night out.

Mathew, 40, was clipped on a pedestrian crossing and hurled backwards in Burton Joyce, Notts, while walking back to his parents' house — but incredibly did not require hospital treatment.

A friend said: “It was a miracle.”

A duty manager at The Nelson pub where the actor had been drinking said: “It was a really, really unfortunate accident and it could have been a lot worse. We are all glad that it wasn’t. He was obviously very shaken up but he’s all right now. He’s got a bit of a scratch on him but no underlying issue there whatsoever.

“Mathew is a regular customer of ours. I can say that everybody was quite spirited that night and it’s a genuine mishap on his part.”

He was near his parents’ home in the village of Burton Joyce, Notts, when the accident involving an East Midlands Trains passenger service occurred on December 20.

Staff at The Nelson were alerted and they called police and paramedics and rushed to help Mathew. The pub duty manager added: “We know Mathew well. We were just making sure that he was OK, as we would with any customer.

“Mathew wasn’t taken to hospital. The police had to be called just because of the nature of the incident. But they were just glad that he wasn’t harmed.”

Another source in the village said: “He was clipped by a train and knocked backwards. He had a miraculous escape.”

The level crossing, which has danger warning signs at both ends, is mainly used by dog walkers to access fields to the rear of the pub.

East Midlands Ambulance Service confirmed paramedics and a doctor attended the incident and that a person was treated at the scene but was not taken to hospital.

Villagers said Mathew — who played Gavin Shipman in the hit TV comedy — was in another local pub just three days after the accident watching the Everton v Spurs Premier League match on TV.

He was also seen on Friday in a local bar.

Mathew became one of the biggest stars in British comedy thanks to the success of Gavin and Stacey, in which he played an Essex boy who falls in love with a Welsh girl.

He and co-star and close friend James Corden got rave reviews and the show twice won a Bafta.

But their follow-ups were panned by the critics. One said of the pair’s sketch show Horne and Corden:

“Never has a three-minute sketch felt so long.”

Their comedy movie Lesbian Vampire Killers was then described as a “witless mess”. Mathew is said to refer to the period in the doldrums as simply “The Negativity”.

He once said of the aftermath of the scathing reviews: “The recovery time for something like that was always going to be quite lengthy.”

Corden decided to go solo and relaunch his career in America.

It was a decision that transformed him into a superstar after he landed the job hosting iconic talk show The Late Late Show, with hit segment Carpool Karaoke.

By contrast Mathew’s efforts were low key. He went back to The Catherine Tate Show then followed that up with Are You Being Served and Bad Education.

But he has said he and James are still close and that he feels no envy over his mate’s success.

Mathew told an interviewer: “James remains a friend and never wasn’t a friend. We have remained friends ever since we met. We’ve done various bits of work together and now we’re both off doing other things.

“He is still the same old James really — just that he’s now earning millions in Hollywood, meeting mega stars and interviewing them.

“Jealousy isn’t something I do — I am not a jealous person. I’m thrilled about the success he’s having.”

Mathew and Casualty actress girlfriend Evelyn Hoskins were engaged, but they are recently said to have split. They had announced their engagement in October.

Evelyn, 30, showed off her ring in online snaps and even posted jokey pictures of her apparently wedding dress shopping with two male pals.

They pair sparked rumours they were already married after he went on ITV’s This Morning wearing a ring on his wedding finger.

Shortly afterwards they were photographed together both wearing rings while out in London.

Evelyn has since deleted her Twitter account where she had previously posted gushing messages about him.

And last week she posted messages and a video clip on Instagram suggesting she spent Christmas in New York with actor friend Will Blum.

Mathew — whose previous girlfriends include signer Laura Marling and Fiona Daniel, drummer for rock band The Whip — has been touring the UK this year in a stage play of Rain Man.

He has described it as a role that is close to his heart as his older brother is autistic.

British Transport Police yesterday confirmed a pedestrian was struck by a train near Burton Joyce level crossing on December 20.

A spokesman said: “The incident was reported to police at 22:37pm and is being treated as non-suspicious. Officers attended the incident along with paramedics and a person was escorted away from the scene.”

Another BTP spokesman said “a male was clipped by the train”.