rail passengers in the North-East have come perilously close to being involved in a major disaster on numerous occasions in the past year, it emerged last night.

Since ten people were killed in the Selby train crash, in North Yorkshire, last February, there have been 13 incidents of vehicles crashing through barriers next to the East Coast main line.

The figure was described as "truly astonishing" by a campaigner for improvements to crumbling railway bridges.

The Northern Echo has obtained statistics which showed that 42 vehicles had ploughed through fencing beside railway lines across the UK since Selby.

Several of the incidents are understood to have occurred in the North-East and North Yorkshire.

Structural engineer Professor John Knapton, of Newcastle University, said: "It is a truly astonishing number and it just shows that you must have barriers to stop this. You can't just rely on people to drive properly.

"Since this all started, I have had people from all over the country contacting me to say they are worried sick about bridges in their area which are in a bad way."

A Railtrack spokeswoman confirmed that 13 incidents where vehicles had crashed through barriers on the line between Berwick and London had been recorded at the regional headquarters, in York, since March 1 last year.

North-East travellers were among those involved at Wilsford, Lincolnshire, on August 30, when a van plunged on to the tracks and was hit by a train.

The Echo first exposed the scandalous state of bridge barriers on the East Coast main line in May last year.

The majority of approaches to 50 bridges investigated were found to have poor levels of protection, with several having just wooden fencing.

Prof Knapton said: "Many of these bridges over the main line were built at its opening, which was 1852, and the internal combustion engine was only developed in 1876.

"So these bridges were never intended for any kind of vehicle, never mind today's high-speed vehicles, and there are still only dilapidated bits of garden fencing protecting many of them."

It is expected that a report by the Health and Safety Commission, ordered by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in the wake of the Selby crash, will be published on February 21