RAIL company Jarvis today defended its record after a damning report claimed poor maintenance was to blame for the Potters Bar train crash.

The York-based company said it maintained the points, identified to have caused the crash, in "accordance with long-established industry procedures".

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) report revealed that the crash, which killed seven people and injured 76 when a passenger train derailed at a set of points near Potters Bar station, close to London, was probably down to "insufficient maintenance" of those points.

They were said to be in a poor condition "to an extent where they were not 'fit for purpose'."

Maintenance of the line at Potters Bar, and the affected points, was carried out by Jarvis Rail. A statement from the company said Jarvis had noted the observations in the report, but could not comment in detail until it had read all the documentation.

However, Jarvis also said the report gave no evidence that the company had failed to maintain the affected points "within the required maintenance regime".

A spokesman said: "We have provided statements, documentary evidence and witnesses to the investigating authorities which show that the points were maintained in accordance with laid-down standards.

"The maintenance of the points was carried out by trained and competent personnel, in accordance with industry guidelines.

"The points were formally inspected jointly by Railtrack and Jarvis seven weeks before the derailment and found to be in good condition."

The spokesman said the investigation had still not established what had happened on the line in that seven weeks before the accident on May 10.

"Therefore it is still uncertain as to what happened to cause the points to fail so catastrophically," he said. "We note that the report does not draw any conclusions on ultimate cause."

Campaigning lawyer Louise Christian, who represents some of the Potters Bar families, said: "The report demonstrates in graphic terms that a decaying rail infrastructure with damaged safety-critical parts is not subject to proper monitoring, maintenance or replacement."

Steve Coe, of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association, welcomed the HSE report, saying: "While the HSE says that sabotage was not to blame, it is clear that no one party is to blame either.

"Due to the design of the points in question, it could have happened anywhere in the country, irrespective of who was maintaining the track."

Updated: 10:47 Friday, May 30, 2003