Call for warnings review near crossing death crash site

A councillor is calling for more warning signs near a rural railway crossing where a van driver was killed in a collision with a train.

A Northern service travelling from Southport to Manchester struck a delivery van at the manually operated crossing off Martin Lane and Whitehouse Lane in Burscough at about 15:00 BST on Saturday.

County councillor Rick Edwards said there needed to be more warning signs on the run up to the crossing, adding that "we can't afford [for] this to happen again".

Network Rail said it was "too soon to talk about changes, which will be fully informed by the outputs of the industry investigation".

Edwards, a Reform UK councillor for Burscough and Rufford on Lancashire County Council, told BBC North West Tonight that "the only signage that you actually see is on the crossing itself".

"We would like to see some kind of warning a lot further up, so at least when people enter this track they can get an idea of what they're going to face."

He said there was no way anyone could turn around once they entered the area so it was a difficult situation "and it totally relies on somebody shutting the gates".

"Deliveries to addresses are becoming more and more common, so it only leads to the fact that this is possible to happen more frequently,” he said.

Meanwhile a West Lancashire Conservative councillor said it was too early to say what should happen to the crossing and they needed to wait for the RAIB's report before drawing conclusions.

Councillor John Gordon, who represents the Burscough Bridge & Rufford ward, told BBC Radio Lancashire: "First off, I'd like to see what the expert report about it is.

"Whether the signal failed. Did they lose power? Was it showing green when it should have been on red? We don't know anything of that, do we?"

In the aftermath of the collision, people living in the area told the BBC that it was not uncommon for the gate on the crossing to be left open at times by people using it.

The crossing is classed as a "user-worked crossing with miniature stop lights" and has a risk rating of B4, which Network Rail categorises as having a "high individual risk" and a "very high collective risk".

One man familiar with the area said from his experience the crossing was mainly used by locals and farmers, but that he was seeing more delivery drivers using it lately.

Local MP Ashley Dalton said she was "deeply saddened" about the tragic incident.

The Labour member for West Lancashire said: "My thoughts are with the family and loved ones of the man who lost his life, and with everyone affected by this devastating incident."

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch, which works with the Department for Transport and independently investigates accidents to improve railway safety, said it had "sent a team of inspectors to Burscough, Lancashire, to the site of a level crossing accident".

It added: "Our inspectors have gathered evidence as part of the process of conducting a preliminary examination, and a decision on whether or not an investigation will be launched will be taken once all the evidence has been reviewed."

A Network Rail spokesperson said: "Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the driver who tragically lost his life in an incident at a level crossing in Burscough.

"Alongside Northern, we are continuing to support the British Transport Police and the Rail Accident Investigation Branch with their investigations and we will be conducting an internal review into the circumstances around this incident."

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