Ufton Nervet barrier petition to be presented to council

Mortimer councillor Geoff Mayes (Lib Dem) will be proposing the motion to a full meeting of the council on Thursday.
It was created following the death of moped rider David Montague, aged 45, from Reading, in May.
Hungerford resident Simon Hudson began the online petition stating: “In 2004 the Ufton Nervet rail crash disaster killed seven and again this year in May another person died, we must get Network Rail to commit to improving this precarious situation.
“As it stands there is only a half width barrier, this means that some pedestrians and vehicles will try to pass around the barrier endangering both themselves and the train.
"To solve this problem and ensure that it does not happen again we propose a full width barrier that would stop people going around the barriers is installed. If CCTV is installed it would be linked to the signal box so that the operator can check whether the crossing is clear before dropping the barriers.
“This action should make the crossing safer for all rail and road users in the future,” Mr Mayes said.
Seven people died in the crash in November 2004, and another 130 were left injured when the train hit a car parked over the tracks and derailed.
The Rail Accident Investigation Board is still looking into a near miss last September between a train and a car at the crossing.