MINETY residents are worried that a newly refurbished level crossing in the village could prove dangerous if allowed to reopen.

The crossing, previously manned by a guard, has been part of the village for many years but has recently been upgraded to an automated system.

There are fears that without a guard some reckless drivers might see the barriers begin to close and rush across, potentially crashing into someone who had the same idea on the other side.

Although this would be unlikely in a place with good visibility both sides of the new crossing have a noticeable hump that hides the other.

Peter Lavery is one resident who shares these concerns and has been talking to Network Rail throughout the process.

He said: “Nobody can see across the hump at all – it’s not a level crossing.

“If they say it’s safe I’m going to demand that Network Rail will pay for me to get a private survey done.”

Mr Lavery suspects that the safety report that has to be carried out before the crossing is reopened will not be fully independent.

Network Rail are responsible for the crossing but have contracted the work to another firm, Morgan Sindall, with a safety check to be carried out by Amey.

Wiltshire Councillor for Minety Chuck Berry added: “There was a big meeting of Minety Parish Council with a couple of people from Network Rail and we talked about the safety implications. The issue residents had was that it was quite raised.”

Cllr Berry stressed that the road was being assessed and that if it was deemed to be unsafe closing the road could be an option.

He said: “I wouldn’t want to say it was safe or not safe. If the safety report say it’s dangerous then we have to look at what we do with that road.”

Chairman of Minety Parish Council Charles Cook said: “We would be keen to keep the crossing open if at all possible but accept that the safety of both residents and travellers must be respected.”

A spokesman for Network Rail said: “We have built the crossing to a highways-approved design and have also recently asked Amey to undertake an additional review to reaffirm that this has been done correctly.

“We recognise that concerns have been raised regarding the crossing’s safety; an independent road safety audit was undertaken on Tuesday, 16 September. We are reviewing the outputs with Wiltshire Council and will share our findings shortly.”

Some 800 level crossings have been closed in the last four years, but there are still more than 6,000 crossings on the rail network.

Between April1 2013 and March 31 2014, 732 motorists were charged or summonsed for crossing misuse, with a further 740 issued with fixed penalty notices, 102 cautioned for traffic offences and 2,125 drivers sent on safety courses.

British Transport Police Inspector Becky Warren said: “It is important people realise there is a serious penalty to pay for crossing-misuse.

“However, while we will not hesitate to use the force of the law, we are also acutely aware of the need to promote safety at crossings through education.

“We need drivers and pedestrians to realise level crossing misuse is a danger, not only to their safety, but the safety of others.”