PIONEERING research by a North-East university into ways to make Britain's crumbling road bridges safer could be put into practice soon.

Experts from the University of Teesside have now delivered their final research report to the Government after eight years of work on a new method of reinforcing masonry and brick parapets.

The work has won national acclaim for its efforts to reduce the potential for another Selby-type tragedy.

Steel and fibre composite reinforcements were used to strengthen parapets, meaning walls could withstand the equivalent of being hit by cars at up to 70mph.

Ten people died at Great Heck, North Yorkshire, in February 2001 when a Land Rover veered off the M62 and crashed on to the East Coast Main Line, leading to a head-on collision between two trains.

The Northern Echo, which has campaigned for urgent improvements to scores of deteriorating bridge barriers, has since highlighted several alarming near-misses of vehicles close to tracks.

Professor Brian Hobbs, director of Teesside University's science and technology school, said two companies were considering using his project team's ground-breaking work.

He said: "They are interested in the technique and have said they could be happy to use it.

"We are trying to work on it with these two companies and I am waiting for them to get back to me."

A Middlesbrough company is considering adopting the system, as is a major international firm in Liechtenstein.

Last year, Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged to resolve the "who-pays-for-what" row which had previously held up urgently needed work on railway bridges throughout the country.

Local authorities were long in dispute with the Government over who was responsible for the costs of work.

In the wake of the Selby crash, The Northern Echo investigated the state of about 50 road-over-rail bridges along the East Coast Main Line and found the majority to have inadequate protection shielding motorists from plunging on to the tracks.