HISTORIC railway huts along the Settle-Carlisle line were bulldozed by Network Rail without warning.

In what has been described by the voluntary rail user group, the Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line as a "shocking orgy of destruction", a team of men demolished several disused platelayers' huts, razing to the ground reminders of a bygone age of rail working.

Pete Shaw, spokesman for the Friends, was appalled at the demolition work, which was done without consultation with the statutory bodies or volunteers connected to the historic route.

"Despite the line being officially designated as a Conservation Area in 1995, Network Rail's building department did not even notify bodies such as the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority or district councils, let alone the Friends or the Settle and Carlisle Railway Trust.

"The huts were the places where the old permanent way gangs would retire for rest, shelter from weather and meal breaks. Some were very old, possibly dating right back to the construction of the line," said Mr Shaw.

The huts were constructed using varying materials from stone, brick and timber to concrete. Some had fireplaces with grates, others stoves and some a combination stove and oven.

According to the Friends, Network Rail had set aside £300,000 in its budget to demolish 45 huts - a total of £6,500 per building.

Mr Shaw said: "Seemingly indiscriminate destruction has been wrought on them.

"However, Network Rail did call a halt to the demolition programme so a meeting could be held to discuss possible preservation of examples which had not been damaged. We were pleased that as soon as we rang them to ask what they were doing, they immediately stopped the demolition. We have now had two meetings and come up with a list of 28 remaining huts which could be repaired and preserved depending on cost.

David Wiggins, regional corporate affairs manager for Network Rail, said the work had been necessary for health and safety reasons.

"Some of the buildings are structurally unsound, and in other redundant structures we have found hypodermic syringes.

"However, we now accept that we should have consulted interested parties such as the National Park authority and the Friends of the Settle to Carlisle line before starting the work. We have now done so, and have agreed a way forward.

"This will mean us taking a more flexible view about the future of any structures which are deemed to be worth preserving.

"This work - while undertaken for the right reasons - was started without following procedures which have worked well in the past, and we apologise for the oversight."