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Rail worker sacked over inspections

A rail worker who falsified records linked to railway level crossing inspections has been sacked.

It followed a "comprehensive internal investigation" by Network Rail into claims crossings in the Anglia area were not inspected as ordered.

Network Rail is believed to have investigated allegations that nine inspections had not been done despite the paperwork claiming they had.

A Network Rail spokesman said: "Network Rail has taken action against the individual concerned and put in place a robust plan which has seen more than two-thirds of the crossings on the Anglia route inspected in the last nine months, finding no cause for concern at any crossing.

"The fact that these discrepancies were picked up so quickly - and that swift action was taken against the individual concerned - demonstrates clearly that the procedures we have in place are fit for purpose and do the job they are there to do, which is to keep the public safe."

There are more than 1,000 level crossings on the Anglia route, and more than 700 have been inspected in the last nine months.

None of the allegations involve the level crossing at Sudbury in Suffolk at the centre of one Britain's more recent rail disasters, after a train was derailed earlier this month when it hit a sewage tanker, injuring 22 people.

The 38-year-old tanker driver has been charged with endangering safety on the railway.