'Finish Norris'

Steve Norris's campaign to be Mayor of London today suffered a body blow when relatives of victims of the Potters Bar rail crash urged Londoners not to back the Tory candidate.

The Potters Bar Claimants Group, representing five of the seven families, said Mr Norris was unsuitable to lead the capital because of his links to the Jarvis rail firm, blamed for the tragedy.

Seven people died when a Cambridge-bound train was derailed in May 2002 and a Health and Safety Executive investigation found that poor maintenance led to the points failure that caused the disaster. The points were maintained by Jarvis.

Mr Norris was a non-executive director of the firm at the time but took up the post of chairman last November - after he had been selected as Tory mayoral candidate.

In an open letter published today, the families said they were angry that, in the wake of the crash, Mr Norris suggested that vandals or sabotage had been responsible. Mr Norris has since said that he was wrong to suggest that and is now calling for a public inquiry.

Louise Christian, solicitor for the families, said that they were not backing an individual candidate for mayor but believed Mr Norris was "unfit" to serve at City Hall.

"The best thing Londoners can do on 10 June is vote in massive numbers to finish off Steve Norris's political career," she said.

Jarvis has admitted liability for compensation but failed to admit responsibility for the incident.