The motorist who triggered the Selby rail disaster, which killed ten people, has been denied a chance to appeal.

Mr Justice Mackay, the judge at Gary Hart's Leeds Crown Court trial, made the decision after reviewing the case again earlier this month.

However, Hart can still turn to three Court of Appeal Judges, in London, in an effort to have his case heard again.

In December, a jury decided that Hart fell asleep at the wheel on the morning of February 28, 2001, and sparked the tragedy. He was convicted on ten counts of causing death by dangerous driving and given a five-year jail sentence.

Hart's Land Rover and trailer veered down an embankment and on to the East Coast Main Line at the village of Great Heck, near Selby, North Yorkshire.

The vehicle was hit by a GNER express train which then ploughed into an on-coming freight train laden with 1,600 tonnes of coal.