A COUNCILLOR is calling for railway safety to feature more prominently in Darlington schools.

After working with British Rail for 20 years, Darlington borough councillor Lee Vasey knows the dangers of children playing on railway lines.

She remembers the day, while working in the control centre in Teesside, when one train driver came in having struck and killed a child who had climbed on to the railway track.

"It was a long time ago, but I still remember the look on that man's face," Coun Vasey said.

"People do not realise how badly it affects not only the family of the bereaved, but also the driver of the train."

The ward councillor for the Eastbourne area of Darlington believes more should be done to teach children about railway safety.

"Children need to know that railway lines are not a place where they should play," she said.

"It should be something that is talked about in schools."

Coun Vasey is hoping to set up talks with the British Transport Police at Firthmoor and North Road primary schools, to highlight the issues to pupils.

Earlier this year, children were filmed by closed-circuit television security cameras damaging a fence near the railway tracks alongside the Firthmoor estate, in Darlington, to enable them to gain access to the line.