AN unmanned railway crossing in Worcester which has attracted more than 100 incidents of near-misses and anti-social behaviour in the last five years will be shut off.

Campaigners are celebrating after spending more than a year-and-a-half trying to get the crossing, which links Astwood Road with King George V playing fields in Brickfields, closed to members of the public. We previously reported in your Worcester News that bricks, stones and golf balls have been thrown at trains, children have been seen playing ‘chicken’ on the tracks and that objects including shopping trolleys and bicycle wheels have been placed on the railway line.

But after Worcestershire County Council turned down an application from Network Rail to temporarily close the route in March, an independent safety report has been carried out.

A Network Rail spokesperson said it had not yet received formal notification of the closure but it was pleased with the decision. She said: “Brickfield level crossing is one of the hotspots for railway crime and closing the crossing will remove any safety risks caused by people misusing it.”

Councillor Paul Denham, a Labour city councillor who has been campaigning for the crossing’s closure, said: “There’s nothing inherently wrong with the crossing itself, it’s the stupidity of people using it that’s the problem and the majority of those are children.

“One or two local people might possibly object once the county council advertises the proposal, but I hope they don’t cause further delay because this crossing could be the scene of a real tragedy any time between now and its closure.”

The council is planning to advertise the closure within the next four weeks, but its implementation will depend on whether there are any objections.