Shrewsbury mum in level crossing campaign receives MBE
Prince Charles gave his sympathies to a mother whose teenage daughter died on a level crossing when he handed her an MBE.
Tina Hughes, who went to school at Meole Brace and Wakeman in Shrewsbury during the 1970s, lost her daughter Olivia Bazlington in 2005 when she and her friend Charlotte Thompson were hit by a train as they walked over the rail tracks at Elsenham in Essex.
Olivia was 14, Charlotte was 13 and the tragedy shocked a nation and brought fresh questions about the safety of level crossings.
Mrs Hughes launched a tireless campaign to highlight the dangers associated with crossings. She was awarded her MBE at Buckingham Palace after being nominated by Network Rail. The honour comes after the company was prosecuted for the girls' deaths in 2012 and was fined more than £1 million.
Network Rail's chief executive, Sir David Higgins, asked Mrs Hughes to work with Network Rail as its Level Crossing User Champion.
Mrs Hughes said Prince Charles offered his sympathies over the death of her daughter and said he hoped she would continue her campaign.
She said: "He said that he was sorry to hear about the death of my daughter and how that had spring-boarded me into action, but he hoped this would encourage me to carry on.
"He also said he was surprised there were still so many unprotected crossings out there on the network.
"It was nice that he knew that I has started because of my daughter.
"It made me feel better because it was obviously a very bittersweet award. I would rather never have had to do any of this work and still have my daughter."
Mrs Hughes, who was Tina Brown at school, now lives in Hertfordshire but her parents, Peter and Valerie, still live in Shrewsbury.
