VITAL work to replace safety barriers on rail bridges in the borough of Darlington will be completed within the next six months.

A recent independent survey commissioned by the council following the Selby rail crash last February highlighted four Railtrack road bridges in the borough in need of high priority safety work.

The bridges - at Brafferton Mill, Brafferton, Salters Lane and Hurworth Place, which straddle the East Coast main line - are first in line for safety crash barriers to prevent vehicles careering on to the tracks

Other Railtrack bridges described as a medium priority at Thompson Street East and Haughton Road are scheduled for similar work during the year 2003-4, while a low priority bridge at Dinsdale Station will have to wait longer.

One council-owned rail bridge at Burtree was also classed as a low priority while another at Teesside Airport was deemed safe.

Controversy still surrounds who is responsible for undertaking and funding the repairs to all nine bridges and the council is continuing to pursue Railtrack for answers. In the meantime, and in line with other authorities nationally, the council has agreed to begin remedial work on the worst bridges.

Additional external funding to cover the £80,000 cost will be sought while maintenance work is carried out.

John Buxton, the council's director of development and environment, told the D&S Times: "We are getting on with the ones that have the most significant risk while negotiations with Railtrack continue. We are confident that work will be completed within six months but it could be earlier."

Specialist contractors will be brought in to carry out the work which should begin within the next few weeks.

* Work upgrading the piers on Burtree Lane Bridge, Darlington, near the junction with the A1(M), started on Monday and is expected to last until the end of July. There will be two-way traffic signals in operation in Burtree Lane together with a 40mph speed limit