RAILTRACK bosses have launched an investigation to find out why warnings about loose masonry were not heeded after vandals sent huge stones crashing on to the line at Colne.

The stones, weighing as much as half a ton, were used as cappings on the bridge at Wackersall Road, a short distance from the railway station.

They were dislodged on Tuesday night when vandals levered them over the parapet by wedging wooden stakes into the mortar.

Railtrack bosses say they know nothing about the existence of workmen who spent September carrying out maintenance,

And, they say, they have not seen a letter sent by local councillor Tim Ormrod in November telling them the stones were unsafe and an easy target for vandals.

Mr Ormrod discovered the vandals' antics when he drove over the bridge, and it fulfilled his worse nightmare.

He said: "I am appalled that what I predicted several months ago has happened.

"It was sheer chance that no-one has been killed or injured. Had the stone which landed on the track hit a train it would certainly have killed either the driver or passengers, and it is very lucky that it didn't land where it could have derailed a train."

In November, Mr Ormrod wrote to Railtrack's building surveyor warning that building work which had been done on the bridge had left it in a dangerous state, and asked for it to be attended to.

The letter said: "Several workmen spent numerous days working on the stone structure of this bridge and appear to be re-laying the capping stones and generally pointing the bridge.

"They have now obviously left the site and the work is incomplete. The capping stones appear to be more unsafe now than before they started, with the tie bars having been severed and gaps underneath and between them.

"It is such that it would not be very difficult for a couple of young hooligans to push them off."

Railtrack's Malcolm Hindle said: "We have certainly not had any workmen on that bridge and it mystifies us. We are investigating what happened about the letter of complaint.

"In the meantime, we have sent out a rapid response team to make good the repairs on the bridge."

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