HEROIC ambulance staff who fought to save those injured in the Selby rail crash have had their actions honoured.

Almost 90 staff from Tees East & North Yorkshire Ambulance Service (TENYAS) received citations for their efforts following the tragedy on February 28, 2001.

TENYAS chief executive Jane Barnes decided to hold the special ceremony at York Racecourse after ambulance staff were not officially honoured alongside police, fire and rescue staff and members of the public in July.

Mrs Barnes thanked staff from the bottom of her heart for all they did on that terrible day, and said: "I hope you will accept these citations with pride. You richly deserve them - because each and every one of you played your part so well."

Those present received certificates from the Vice Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire, Colonel Edward York, watched by TENYAS chairman, Dr Nicolas Varey, and two senior officers from the British Transport Police, Assistant Chief Constable Paul Nicholas and force marketing manager Tom Walsworth.

Among those honoured were Selby paramedics Steve Goulden, 33, and Bob Chambers, 47, who were first on the scene, and faced the task of completing an overall assessment of the incident as casualties lay all around them.

Steve, who has worked for the ambulance service for 11 years, said they had no idea of the scale of the tragedy when they received the 999 call at 6.20am.

"There had recently been a mail train accident so we just had that in our minds, especially that time in the morning," he said.

Bob said: "At the time you do not think about the scale. It was only afterwards that it sunk in.

"It is good to see the ambulance service finally honoured in the same way as others who played a part in the rescue."

The pair worked at the scene for three hours, joining about 150 TENYAS staff with 30 ambulances to move 77 patients, 30 of them seriously injured, in a harrowing day which saw ten fatalities.

It was a first major incident for many staff, including nine trainee emergency medical technicians, who were bussed to Great Heck to lend a hand. Colleagues from neighbouring ambulance services, medical teams from surrounding hospitals, two RAF Sea Kings and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance also joined the rescue effort.

The crash happened after a Land Rover driven by Gary Hart, 37, from Strubby, Lincolnshire, left the road while towing a trailer and ran down an embankment on to the East Coast Main Line. The Land Rover was struck by a London-bound GNER train, which left the tracks and collided with an oncoming freight train. Hart was found guilty of ten counts of causing death by dangerous driving and jailed for five years.

Updated: 10:55 Thursday, December 04, 2003