There will be no prosecution of Jarvis Rail over its involvement in the Potters Bar rail crash, the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) announced today.

In 2002 seven people were killed and 76 injured when a train derailed at high speed. Railway maintenance firm Jarvis later admitted liability for the incident.

Last year the ORR said it would be charging Jarvis and Network Rail under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Now however the ORR has said that while there is "sufficient evidence" for a conviction, such a prosecution would "no longer be in the public interest".

Jarvis went into administration a year ago next Friday and its administrators have said that they would not take part in any trial.

As well as taking this into account the ORR said that a trial would be long and expensive and would only result in a small financial penalty for Jarvis if found guilty.

The ORR also said that the family members of victims have "expressed the view that there was little value in continuing a prosecution".

Network Rail will have its next court hearing at the end of this month, when it will also receive a date for sentencing.