A RECRUITMENT agency has warned its drivers to be aware of tiredness at the wheel in the wake of the Selby rail disaster.

LMR, in Newton Aycliffe, has a team of temporary truckers who carry out driving assignments for local businesses.

Branch manager Thelma Clark said: "It is difficult for us to monitor what drivers do in their private lives. They have a moral obligation not to sit up drinking until the early hours if they are behind the wheel of a ten-tonne lorry the next morning."

She added: "There are important lessons to be learned from the Gary Hart tragedy. It is something that could happen to anyone who drives when they haven't had enough sleep."

Hart was jailed for five years for causing the deaths of ten rail travellers when his Land Rover veered on to a railway track after he fell asleep at the wheel. He has lodged an appeal against his conviction.

Ms Clark said: "You often see the sign 'tiredness kills' and the Selby rail crash has made us all much more aware of this."