CANDLES have been lit on the 20th anniversary of the Great Heck train crash for each of the 10 men who died.

Each candle bore the words "Never forgotten".

As they were lit the names of the 10 men were read out.

The candles stood on the altar of Selby Abbey during a special commemorative service attended virtually by their relatives and friends, survivors and others involved in dealing with the crash's aftermath.

Among the dead were GNER train driver John Weddle and Freightliner train driver Steve Dunn.

Their trains collided when a Land Rover and trailer came off the M62 as it passed over the East Coast Main Line into the path of the 0445 GNER Newcastle to London train on February 28, 2001, pushing it into the path of a Freightliner coal train.

GNER train guard Raymond Robson and train chef Paul Taylor, and passengers Steve Baldwin, Alan Ensor, Barry Needham, Robert Shakespeare, Christopher Terry and Clive Vigden also died.

More than 80 people were injured.

Leading the service, the Rev John Weetman of Selby Abbey said: "Time heals, maybe sometimes, somehow, in some way for some people, not never entirely, never completely, never without thoughts and feelings and memories coming back."

Tony Thompson, who was a British Transport Police superintendent in 2001, said the thoughts of the emergency services and those who responded to the crash were and are with the relatives of those who died and who were injured.

They "were not alone and are not alone today and our sympathy and remembrance remain with them even after two decades", he said.

The High Stewart of Selby Abbey, the Rev Rachel Benson, read a poem and said prayers and two members of the Selby Abbey choir sang The Lord's My Shepherd during the socially distanced service.

There were initially problems with the livestream for those attending virtually.

The service was the second of two commemorative events today marking the anniversary.