Rail crossing safety plan welcomed

Network Rail's decision to improve safety at a rail crossing near the England-Wales border has been welcomed by North Shropshire's MP and a couple who live nearby.

Colin and Ann Edwards live near the viaduct south of Chirk and said a nearby pedestrian crossing over the line was often busy with walkers.

Network Rail described the crossing as "a hot spot for trespassing" and said it had recorded numerous incidents of people spending too long getting from one side to the other.

It plans to install a set of warning lights at the crossing in December.

Network Rail carried out a study between November and April, which recorded 13 incidents where people spent too long crossing.

One involved a "large group of 36 children and three adults", when one of the adults stepped off the crossing and stayed there for more than two minutes.

On other occasions, people stopped to talk on their phones and one person was seen standing on the crossing for 17 minutes.

Safety at the site is one of the reasons it has decided to object to putting extra trains on the line for a direct service between Wrexham, Shropshire and London.

Mrs Edwards believed lights "would be a benefit", but said "it comes down to the person's own common sense."

"If you don't come and stand and listen and look both ways, well you're daft aren't you?"

Mr Edwards agreed and said the crossing, between Gobowen in Shropshire and Chirk in Wrexham county, regularly saw groups of walkers crossing it, sometimes as many as 20 at a time.

Network Rail has said plans to increase the number of trains on the line, to create a direct service between Wrexham and London, would create a situation which was "not tolerable".

Helen Morgan, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire, had called for safety measures to be installed and said: "If that crossing was in Birmingham, something would have been done about it".

Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.