ON the fifth anniversary of the Great Heck rail disaster, highways authorities say they have now completed safety improvements to prevent a repeat of the tragedy.

The crash on February 28, 2001, claimed the lives of ten passengers and left more than 70 injured.

The accident was caused when a LandRover careered down an embankment onto the East Coast Main Line, near Selby, North Yorkshire, where it was struck by a GNER express train.

An investigation by The Northern Echo exposed the scandalous state of barriers at road bridges over the railway line.

Using a points system devised by Durham County Council, authorities across the region identified the road-over-rail crossings requiring urgent attention. Five years on, all high-risk bridges have now been upgraded.

Durham has spent £300,000 erecting steel crash barriers on the roadside approaches to seven bridges over the East Coast Main Line: at Plawsworth, near Chester-le-Street, Hett Lane, Littleburn, Relley Bridge and Browney Lane, near Durham City, and Ricknall Lane and Bradbury in the south of the county.

It has also completed similar works on the approaches to a bridge that carries the A689 over the Stockton to Ferryhill branch line.

The authority is now turning its attention to "medium-risk" sites, where roads lie next to the railway line but do not cross it.

Three sites have been earmarked for action over the next year, at a total cost of £10,000.

On the East Coast Main Line, safety barriers are to be installed at Lindisfarne Road, in the Newton Hall area of Durham City. Extra tree planting is to take place at Farnley Ridge, in the city centre, to create a natural barrier, while steel barriers will be installed on the approaches to Seaham Station, on the Leeds to Newcastle branch line.

In North Yorkshire, a county council study identified 17 bridges deemed in the "high risk" category and has now completed a £750,000 four-year programme of works to install safety improvements at all of them.

David Bowe, assistant director of highways at the authority, said: "By addressing the 17 worst bridges, we have managed the position to one which is deemed to be of reasonable risk."

Engineering expert Professor John Knapton, a former lecturer at Newcastle University, said: "The response around the country has been patchy, but Durham and North Yorkshire are top of the class - they are way ahead of everyone else.

"Problem bridges were identified very quickly and have been dealt with very well and I think that was largely down to The Northern Echo's lobbying."

Figures compiled by the Rail Safety and Standards Board, reveal that over the past three years there have been 11 incidents in which vehicles have left the road - the last in December at Bishop Stortford, Hertfordshire, in which a car was left dangling over the railway line. However, no incident has been reported in the North-East and North Yorkshire in more than two years.