I AM writing in response to letters published recently in the Daily Echo regarding Poole High Street level crossing.

Network Rail is upgrading the railway between Poole and Wool as part of our plans to build a bigger, better railway for Britain.

This work includes improvements to the level crossing at Poole High Street which will improve the safety and reliability of this busy crossing for the many hundreds of people who use it each day.

We are of course mindful of the need to maintain access across the railway for everyone while we do this work, including people with reduced mobility, and we have worked closely with the Borough of Poole to plan the upgrade in a way that minimises disruption.

Between February 23 and March 4, pedestrians will need to use the footbridge or nearby subway at all times in order to cross the railway.

Anyone who is unable to use the footbridge or nearby subway will be able to use the level crossing with assistance from a crossing attendant, who will be on site for the duration of the work.

The exception to this will be between 11pm and 5am each night, when both the crossing and footbridge will be completely closed to allow our engineers to work safely on the crossing.

This is a temporary closure and the level crossing will re-open once the upgrade is complete.

The nature of the work means there is no feasible alternative to the plan we have set out.

We thank the people of Poole for their patience and apologise for any disruption it may cause while we carry out this important upgrade.

ROD MOORCROFT, Programme manager, Network Rail