The parents of a Craven woman killed in the Paddington train crash launched a fierce attack on rail authorities on the first day of the disaster inquiry.

Eight months after the crash in which 31 people were killed, the injured and bereaved told the public that vital safety lessons had not been learnt.

Among them were Robin Kellow and his wife, Diana, from Gargrave, who clutched a photograph of their daughter Elaine, 24.

Mr Kellow said: "This would not have happened if the Clapham crash recommendations had been implemented. We can only hope that we will not be here in 12 years' time for another crash inquiry."

Elaine had been travelling on the Thames Trains' service to work in Maidenhead when it was in collision with a Great Western train bound for Paddington.

After the crash, her mum said: "She caught that train every morning so I knew she was on it."

Venezuelan-born Elaine spent a gap year working in Skipton before studying biochemistry at London's Imperial College.

Mrs Kellow described her only daughter as a dynamic person with a passion for life and a huge personality.

Also at the first day of the Paddington Rail Inquiry was Pam Warren, 33, a freelance financial consultant from Reading, Berkshire, who has already undergone 22 operations as a result of the severe burns she received in the October 5 crash.

She said she was "angry" with the Crown Prosecution Service which yesterday decided not to prosecute anyone for manslaughter.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.