URGENT repair work on a series of rail bridges branded "potential risks" by council chiefs has been delayed, it has emerged.

North Yorkshire County Council has admitted it has still not begun vital maintenance projects on four bridges in the region.

More than a year after the Selby rail crash triggered a survey of all road-over-rail bridges in North Yorkshire, environment bosses said they have still not been given the green light to start work.

That has angered survivors of the Great Heck tragedy, in which ten people lost their lives when Gary Hart's Land Rover careered off a rail bridge on the M62 and onto the East Coast Main Line.

Today, they have implored council authorities to begin making the four bridges highlighted for immediate action - Dalton-on-Tees, Danby Wiske, Thirsk Station and Thorpefield - safe for motorists.

Council officers have put aside £100,000 to carry out the work. But electricity work taking place on the bridge at Dalton-on-Tees has delayed the project.

Brian Jones, client officer in the environment department at North YorkshireCounty Council, said tenders for the contract would not be advertised until this work had been completed.

Mr Jones said: "Apparently there is a problem on the Dalton bridge. It is going to take a few weeks before work by the electricity board takes place.

"So we are just holding the tenders and waiting until the electricity work is completed. I think we are talking about weeks, rather than months.

"One of the problems is that it this situation is not in our hands. We are committed to this project and want to get

on with it as quickly as we can."

At Railtrack, which maintains the East Coast Main Line, a spokeswoman added: "It is the council which is instructing contractors. When that happens then we can go forward."

But Mark Russell, who damaged his leg in the Selby rail crash, said: "Anything than can be improved that saves lives is worth doing.

"Why hasn't this work started yet? It is well over a year since Great Heck."There has been long enough time to deal with these bridges, yet still nothing has been done. This must be done before more lives are destroyed."

Another survivor, Janine Edwards, of York, added: "This is work that needs to be done straight away.

"I would urge those in authority to get started. It seems silly to have the money and not start the work."

News of a further delay is just the latest hitch for the project.

Work was due to have been completed early in the New Year, but a funding issue with Railtrack forced its postponement.

Updated: 08:54 Monday, April 08, 2002