The two trains which collided in the Selby rail disaster were travelling at a combined speed of 142 mph, a report has revealed.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation said the speed was a record for an accident of its kind in the UK.

It meant the collision was "outside the parameters of all recognised crashworthiness standards."

The report revealed how tables and headrests became lethal missiles as they detached from the carriages.

Ten died

A spokesman for the HSE told BBC News Online: "The carriages and fixtures were not designed to those crash tolerances."

Ten people died and 82 were injured in the accident in February 2001.

The crash happened when a car and trailer ran off the M62 and into the path of a Newcastle to London express.

Moments later the passenger train smashed into the stricken vehicles and was deflected into the path of a north-bound freight train travelling in the opposite direction.

Gary Hart was convicted at Leeds Crown Court after a jury found he had fallen asleep at the wheel of his Land Rover before it plunged on to the main East Coast line.

He was sentenced to five years in jail for 10 counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

The final report into the accident by the HSE also confirmed earlier findings that there were no track, signalling, maintenance or rolling stock defects which could have contributed to the incident.