A LEADING engineer has told highways chiefs they have been given the perfect opportunity to end the scandal of Britain's dangerous railway bridges.

Network Rail's decision to take maintenance contracts away from private firms should act as a catalyst for work by councils which are not doing enough to prevent another Selby-style disaster, according to structural engineer Professor John Knapton.

The former Newcastle University lecturer said there was now no reason for a lack of investment in strengthening decaying road-over-rail barriers.

He said: "The Network Rail announcement means that we will now have four or five major civil engineering contractors with time on their hands.

"This is a good time for the Highways Agency and local authorities to get the bridges work done because they will certainly get good prices."

Last week, The Northern Echo revealed that many authorities had not yet learned the lessons of the Selby tragedy of 2001, which claimed ten lives after a Land Rover ended up on the tracks and was struck by an express train.

New figures showed that in the past year, 33 vehicles had plunged on to railway lines and three were hit by trains.

Experts said authorities in the South were lagging behind Durham and North Yorkshire county councils, which have invested heavily in repair work.

Councils in the West Country, in particular, have done little work despite Tony Blair announcing funding designed to speed up improvements.

Mr Blair cited The Northern Echo's acclaimed two-year campaign for urgent action, and an end to squabbling between authorities over who paid for work, as a main reason for the announcement.

Prof Knapton said: "It is now best to leave Network Rail to get on with the track work because they will have a big job on.

"This has lessened the excuse for the highways authorities not progressing things. It is a great time to get a good price and, hopefully, those in power are aware of that."

Read more about the Railway Bridges scandal here.