I hope someone learns from the mistakes of the closure of Malton level crossing for maintenance work on Sunday, but I doubt they will.

Firstly, the road signs were poor, wrong or non-existent.

There was almost no advance warning until you arrived at the closure; diversion signs pointed traffic the wrong way around a roundabout; many other signs had blown down in the wind and so evidently no one from North Yorkshire County Council had checked.

BBC traffic news must not have known, as they weren’t saying anything about closures (nor did the Gazette & Herald’s traffic reports on its website).

In Malton and Norton, motorists found the situation frustrating (leading to illegal turns in some cases), and pedestrians – as ever – found no sympathy.

Secondly no one from the rail company knew whether the promised temporary footbridge was in place or not – not even Transpennine customer care staff on the Malton station. They were still moving advisory signs into position at the station 12 hours after the closure started. And the replacement bus?

Transpennine promised one would leave Malton at 10.55am and get to York station at 11.35am. It was 10 minutes’ late leaving Malton and didn’t get to York on time. Passengers heading to Scotland and the South missed trains. Network Rail, Transpennine and the county council should ensure that future closures show common sense and courtesy.

Bill Breakell, Kirkbymoorside