TV chiefs came under fire today after filming a crash for a BBC soap which could bring back painful memories for casualties and families of victims of the Selby rail disaster.

The dramatic episode for Casualty was filmed at the end of March - and bears a number of similarities with the Selby tragedy on February 28.

Today the TV plot was condemned as "tasteless" and "insensitive" by people involved in the Great Heck rail crash.

An ambulance is filmed on its way to a 999 call when it crashes through the wall of a bridge crossing a railway after colliding with a jeep. A frantic rescue bid is launched and one of the paramedics telephones to stop oncoming trains.

A freight train also passes through just before the road crash, which ends with the ambulance plunging on to the track below.

Bill Shaw, whose wife Ginnie suffered serious leg injuries in the Great Heck accident, said: "There are people still recovering from the real crash, and this is much too soon.

"It is only seven weeks after the accident, and some passengers and families who lost loved ones are still suffering with shock."

Mr Shaw, of St Olave's Road, York, added: "It's in bad taste, and to include an ambulance in the plot when the rescue services did such a marvellous job at Selby is a bit crass to say the least."

The Vicar of Snaith, the Reverend Cyril Roberts, who helped to comfort the injured at the crash scene, said: "This programme will touch what is still a raw nerve.

"Some of them will never get it out of their system, and no matter when they broadcast the programme it will hurt."

Paramedic Paul Brown, Selby and Goole group officer for the Tees, East and North Yorkshire ambulance service, said it was "insensitive" because there were too many parallels with the Great Heck disaster.

He said: "It will be a long time before people get over it, and programmes like this don't help."

The Casualty episode was filmed in Loughborough, where local councillor Ida Thurlby said: "I would have preferred them not to have filmed.

"They gave us reassurances it would be done sensitively, but I still have misgivings."

A BBC spokeswoman said: "We are always mindful of the sensitivity involved. This storyline was written well before the Selby crash happened, and will not be broadcast until the autumn."

Updated: 11:05 Wednesday, April 18, 2001