Dawlish News
MP in plea on railway safety
Vital minutes could be saved in emergencies by allowing rescue services to use a surface rail crossing to get to Dawlish Warren beach, Parliament has been told.Teignbridge's Lib Dem MP Richard Younger-Ross said the current access, via a tunnel, was too small for emergency vehicles to get through.
He told a debate at Westminster that a friend and councillor had suffered a heart attack while walking at the Warren.
He said: "The ambulance had to stop one side of the tunnel and the ambulance crew had to leg it nearly half a mile across the sand dunes."
There had also been two major fires in the area: "It highlights the need for appliances to be able to gain access to the Warren."
But Network Rail, which operates the train line, would not allow the surface crossing to be used, citing health and safety issues.
Mr Younger-Ross said: "If anyone is fit to judge health and safety risks it would be the emergency services."
