THE mother of a teenage boy killed on a railway crossing is still fighting to have it closed almost four years after the tragedy.

Michelle Walton, of Haltwhistle, Northumberland, claims the West Lodge level crossing where her 17-year-old son Chris died in January 2008 is “an accident waiting to happen again.”

Yesterday she said: “I want that crossing closed – and I’m not going to stop fighting until it is closed down.”

The crossing, on the Newcastle-to-Carlisle line, stands close to the main A69 road.

That has prevented Network Rail illuminating the spot – and its warning signs – since Chris was tragically mown down by a freight train that he neither saw nor heard until it was too late.

He had been delivering coal with a colleague and was returning across the line on foot when he was struck.

A jury inquest returned a verdict of accidental death after hearing that the lights and noise from the A69 traffic would have hindered his sight and hearing as the train approached.

A Network Rail spokeswoman said last night the company was “actively pursuing” the full closure of the crossing and was in negotiations with the landowners on the Blenkinsopp Estate.

Twelve months ago Network Rail was fined £75,000 at Newcastle Crown Court after admitting breaches of health and safety regulations, and ordered to pay a further £36,000 in costs.

The Office of Rail Regulation prosecuted after finding the company should have taken risk-reduction measures following routine checks in the three years preceding the tragedy.

Though Network Rail says it has since brought the crossing up to required safety standards with improved warning signs, Mrs Walton, 45, insists it is still a death-trap in darkness.

“Chris died at 5.15pm in the darkness of a winter night,” she said, “and it is still dangerous at night.

“I know Network Rail will argue with me and say it is a safe crossing now. But I would like to know if they have done a risk assessment after dark.

“There’s no doubt about it – it’s just an accident waiting to happen again.”

As West Lodge is not a public crossing, use is restricted to authorised landowners.

The Network Rail spokeswoman added: “The crossing cannot be lit because of its proximity to the A69 but we are looking at the possibility of illuminating the signage.

“The Office of Rail Regulation which signed off the act which governs the method of the crossing has agreed that it is not suitable to light the whole crossing.

“But the improvements which we needed to make following the accident have been made.

“At the same time, we are actively pursuing the full closure of the crossing – and that has been the case for some time.”

Nobody was available for comment at the Blenkinsopp Estate last night.