NEW safety barriers are to be installed on ten railway bridges in the region, following the Selby rail tragedy.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council will spend £113,000 on the measures, to reduce the risk of vehicles ending up on rail tracks.

The Government asked all authorities to carry out checks after the Selby disaster in February last year, in which ten people died.

Redcar's member for environment and infrastructure Councillor Sylvia Szintai said none of its assessed bridges fell into a high-risk category.

She said: "There was a complicated scoring system, and bridges which posed a significant risk scored over 100. The scores for our 12 bridges ranged between 43 and 94.

"Although none scored over 100 we think now is the time to install safety fencing on ten of them so that if cars do come off the road they can't go on to the railway line. It needs doing."

The Northern Echo was the first to identify the dangerous state of scores of railway bridge approaches in the region.

But, in many cases, confusion over who should foot the bill for work has meant urgently needed repairs have not been carried out.

Coun Szintai said Redcar and Cleveland's bridges were on adopted highways and the authority was prepared to put up the cash. "We would like Railtrack to contribute, but that's controversial and they are not contributing anywhere in the country as far as we are aware. We would wait forever for them to pay."

The bridges work will be carried out over the next year, although improvements on the highest-scoring one, Black Bridge in Marske, will be done immediately, along with a new footbridge.

The council's executive has been asked to approve the plan at a meeting on Tuesday.

Read more about the Bridges campaign here.