THE Northern Echo was the first newspaper in the region to instigate action on dangerous railway bridges in the wake of the Selby crash.

Having exposed the state of dangerous railings on a bridge crossing the East Coast Main Line at Plawsworth, near Chester-le-Street, County Durham, council chiefs ordered immediate safety work.

The wooden railings leading up to the bridge had become broken and exposed by a series of crashes involving cars skidding on a bend. After pressure from The Northern Echo, they were eventually replaced by Durham County Council with metal safety barriers at a cost of £20,000. The work was aimed at "preventing vehicles from careering off the road and down the embankment to the track below".

Durham County Council began an immediate safety review of more than 20 bridges in the county.

This included bridges which were the responsibility of other authorities, such as Railtrack.

North Yorkshire County Council followed suit, with its own safety survey.

At the time, one Plawsworth resident described how the dangerous state of the Plawsworth bridge - which had been reported to the authorities previously - had been playing on his conscience.

Safety group RoSPA also called for "all the relevant authorities to work together to improve safety measures" at the region's railway bridges.

Professor Knapton said: "This is a perfect example of the right way ahead."