UNION bosses believe railway maintenance workers are still risking their lives because lessons from the Tebay rail tragedy remain unlearned.

Four men died close to the Cumbrian village in February when a runaway truck ploughed into them.

Chris Waters, 54, from Morecambe, Colin Buckley, 49, and 30-year-old Darren Burgess, both from Carnforth and Gary Tindall, 46, from Tebay, were part of a 10-strong team replacing track while colleagues worked further up the line at Scout Green, just north of the village.

Andy Boyack, regional administration manager for the RMT union, says Network Rail workers were using the same type of vehicle in two near misses this month.

But Network Rail spokesman Keith Lumley says different equipment was used and that incidents like the Tebay accident are treated extremely seriously'.

"Further investigative work into the recent incidents is needed to ensure that all lessons have been learned."