THE CATASTROPHIC series of events which led to the Selby rail disaster is likely to happen only once every 300 years, health and safety bosses today said.
Two official reports commissioned by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in the wake of the tragedy last February concluded the risk of a repeat is "low".
But the Health and Safety Commission and Highways Agency said it was not "insignificant" and put forward a raft of 19 separate recommendations in the wake of the deaths of 10 people at Great Heck.
These include carrying out a thorough risk assessment of all locations to see if new safety measures are needed within the next 12 months - even though a Highways Agency check of the M62 motorway bridge passing over the railway line on which Gary Hart's Land Rover came to rest had been passed as a "low risk".
But any work which is needed across the country will not be given instant priority, the agency's Ginny Clarke said. It will have to compete for cash with other road and rail safety projects.
Transport Minister John Spellar said he would implement all of the recommendations.
Updated: 16:04 Monday, February 25, 2002
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