NETWORK RAIL is set to plead guilty in connection with the deaths of two teenage girls at Elsenham level crossing in Essex in December 2005, according to the father of one of the casualties.

The company is due to appear before Basildon magistrates tomorrow, to face charges brought by the Office of Rail Regulation that the company was in breach on two counts of The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, and also one further charge under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

The charges result from allegations by the ORR that Network Rail had failed 'to carry out proper assessments of the risks to the safety of members of the public using the footpath crossing or to have in place adequate arrangements to underpin these assessments'.

Olivia Bazlinton and Charlotte Thompson were crossing the line at Elsenham when a train was approaching, and both were killed in the collision.

A subsequent report compiled by the Rail Safety and Standards Board revealed that a woman had been killed in a similar incident at the crossing in 1989, and that there had since been a number of 'near misses'.

A Railtrack manager had also drawn attention to the risks at the crossing in 2001.

Chris Bazlinton, the father of Olivia, said that NR has advised the families that it will be pleading guilty, but the company said it is making no public comment before tomorrow's case is heard.