A £3 MILLION payout has been made by the insurers of Gary Hart, the motorist who caused the Selby rail disaster, York-based rail company GNER confirmed today.

GNER, which has its headquarters in Station Rise, said the £3 million has been paid to the insurers of the owners of rolling stock lost in the tragedy.

But the East Coast Main Line operator said it would be seeking further settlements from Fortis Insurance for the cost of responding to the disaster, and disruption to train services in its aftermath.

Fortis insures Hart, the Lincolnshire motorist who is serving a five-year jail sentence for causing the February 2001 disaster, in which ten people died.

Hart fell asleep at the wheel of his Land Rover on the M62, causing it to career on to the East Coast Main Line at Great Heck, near Selby.

A GNER Newcastle to London service was derailed by the Land Rover, and then collided with an oncoming freight train

A GNER spokesman said: "We are not commenting directly on this. We never actually said what we were claiming and the legal process continues.."

Writs have also been served on Fortis from Railtrack, which is claiming £10.8m, and from freight company Freightliner.

Railtrack is claiming for the cost of the clean-up operation and for repairs to damaged track.

Freightliner's claim is similar to GNER's, in that the company is seeking compensation for damaged stock and interruption to its business.

The company's driver, Stephen Dunn, died in the crash.

The three writs amount to what has been described as the biggest claim in British car insurance history, but Fortis has said its solvency or ability to meet future claims would not be affected.

"We have reinsurance," the company's claims director Alan Sendall said in April.

Hart was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving in December last year.

Updated: 12:30 Saturday, August 24, 2002