HUNDREDS of people have thrown their weight behind The Northern Echo's campaign to improve safety on bridges crossing the East Coast Main Line.

More than 500 people signed our petition at Newcastle, Darlington and York stations.

The action came after it was revealed Railtrack was warned 18 months ago about the state of a bridge highlighted in our survey.

Gateshead Borough Council said it had brought the bad state of the bridge at Station Lane, Birtley, to the attention of Railtrack - and is still waiting for action.

The crossing was one of the worst examples of dereliction found in an Echo survey of bridges between Newcastle and York, with the wooden fencing protecting the rail line in a complete state of disrepair.

A Gateshead council spokesman said: "There is joint responsibility for the bridge. We drew Railtrack's attention to the state of the bridge in August 1999. Since then the have written to them a number of times suggesting there was potential for vehicles to leave the road, but have had no response.

"We will again press Railtrack to enter talks with us."

Lord Whitty urged the relevant authorities to get together with urgency to address the problems.

Lord Whitty said protection work had been carried out on all major routes, with a working party established to further review safety.

Last night, a beleaguered Railtrack remained tight-lipped about the amount of money it spends on bridge safety in the region.

A spokesman said: "We do not think it is suitable to release this information because of commercial confidentiality."

Read more about the campaign and add your support here.