URGENTLY needed repairs to crumbling railway bridges were given the go-ahead last night.

Darlington Borough Council will spend £130,000 on eight bridges after expert assessments revealed they were at risk.

It is the latest in a series of improvement schemes to be carried out in the North-East and North Yorkshire, in the wake of the Selby rail disaster.

Ten people died at Great Heck, in North Yorkshire, in February last year after a Land Rover veered off the M62 on to the East Coast Main Line, and into the path of an on-coming train.

The Northern Echo has campaigned for improvements to scores of deteriorating bridges in the region since the tragedy.

Four Railtrack-owned bridges in the Darlington borough were considered to be in urgent need of repairs and the council agreed to fund the work, despite not owning the structures.

At a cabinet meeting last night, Councillor Nick Wallis, cabinet member for transport, said: "This is spending we simply cannot duck out of. Regardless of ownership, this work really needs to take place."

The authority's director of environment and development, John Buxton, said it was also hoped to recoup the costs of the work once responsibility had been established.

Repairs costing £70,000 will be carried out at Brafferton Mill, Brafferton, Salters Lane South, Darlington, and Hurworth Place. Bridges at Thompson Street East and Haughton Road will receive £40,000 worth of work. Low priority schemes, costing £20,000, will be undertaken at Dinsdale Station and Burtree.

High priority work will be carried out within the next year.

Read more about the Railway bridges scandal here.