Police patrolling level crossings on Teesside after these shocking near misses

A Level Crossing Mobile Safety Vehicle will be located at a number of crossings and officers and Network Rail staff will be handing out leaflets to educate people around the dangers of level crossing misuse.

While the majority of offences are committed by motorists, police say they also want to make sure pedestrians are aware of the dangers too.

Inspector Michelle Wedderburn said, “We’ll be stepping up our activity during the next few weeks to ensure we speak to as many people as possible about using crossings safely.

“People have just got into the habit of taking risks at the crossing and are jumping red lights, and this has to stop. There is no excuse for jumping the lights at a level crossing and the consequences of doing so could be fatal.

“We are more interested in educating people and saving lives but we will also prosecute anyone who is caught jumping level crossing lights in the hope that this will make them think twice in future.“

The vehicles are funded by Network Rail and operated by BTP officers. Each vehicle is equipped with CCTV cameras and ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) technology.

The vehicles form part of a wider effort to make people more aware of how to use level crossings safely and the dangers and consequences of misusing them.

Level crossings in the following locations will be visited as part of Operation Look:

• Teesside

• Doncaster

• York

• Nottingham

• Worksop

• Cheshire

• Cambridgeshire

• Lincoln

• North Yorkshire

• Staffordshire

• Wakefield

• Rochdale

• St Neots

• Newark

• Leicester

• Derby

• Stockport

• Selby

• Altrincham

• Hull

• Lancashire

• Huddersfield