Ufton Nervet level crossing: Rail bridge works begin

Network Rail said the bridge was designed to "blend in with the environment"

Work has started to replace a level crossing where 11 people have been killed since 2004 with a bridge.

Network Rail said preparatory work at the site in Ufton Nervet, Berkshire, had begun.

It involves moving a memorial garden, dedicated to those who died in a crash in 2004, from the south to the north side of the crossing.

Construction of the bridge is expected to start in early 2016 and will take about a year to complete.

Brian Drysdale had been waiting for the results of an HIV test when he parked his car on the crossing in 2004, killing himself and six people aboard a train.

A further 140 were injured, the Office of Rail and Road said.

Four people have since died at the same location.

Seven people died at Ufton Nervet when a train hit a parked car on 6 November 2004

West Berkshire District Council approved the bridge plans last month.

The rail operator has faced criticism in the past for not building a bridge sooner, but has previously described the site as "complicated and constricted".

Daniel Collins, from Network Rail, said: "Replacing the level crossing with a bridge will completely separate road and rail traffic at this site, significantly reducing the risk of a tragedy, like the 2004 collision, happening again."

Moving the memorial garden will make it more accessible, the firm said.

The people who died in the 2004 crash

• Barry Stevens, 55, from Wells, Somerset

• Anjanette Rossi, 38, from Speen, Berkshire

• Her nine-year-old daughter Louella Main

• Train driver Stanley Martin, 54, of Torquay, Devon

• Emily Webster, 14, of Doccombe, Devon

• Charlie Matthews, 72, of Warminster, Wiltshire

• Brian Drysdale, 48, of Reading, Berkshire