Warning lights at Battersby create confusion

Then in 1967 - A new type of continental barrier was causing concern at Battersby where drivers are taking their lives in their hands. The warning lights normally activated by oncoming trains on the Middlesbrough to Whitby line have been flashing continuously for a week. Coun. Bob McDonald Postmaster at Kildale reported the problem to British Rail but they were still flashing a week later. “Motorists were queuing up waiting for the train that never arrived"
  
Finally in desperation they just ignored the lights and crossed over. Coun. McDonald accused BR of showing dangerous apathy. Already there has been one near escape when a lorry driver approached the crossing when the lights were not flashing and he assumed all was clear. Seconds later when he was just ten yards from the line he saw a train approaching. He pulled up with a few feet to spare. A BR spokesman said that as soon as Stokesley Council’s official complaint was received it would be fully investigated.

This article originally appeared in the April 1999 issue of Now & Then Magazine