North East Youngsters Told To 'Get Off The Tracks'

11 August 2014, 14:49

A campaign's running across the North East as the British Transport Police look to crackdown on the number of people trespassing on the region's railway lines.

The 'Get Off The Tracks' campaign will run for 2 months, with extra officers patrolling hotspots for tresspassing, including in Sunderland.

British Transport Police (BTP) have told Heart as many as 14 people a day are risking their lives and those of rail passengers and staff every year by trespassing on railways.

More than half of all railway trespassers are aged between 14 and 25.

The lighter evenings usually show an increase in trespass cases, some of which include vandalism.

Between April and June this year BTP recorded almost 2,400 trespass incidents, of which almost 1,300 involved people aged 25 or younger.

BTP is enlisting the help of other police forces and the rail industry, including the use of helicopters, to report trespassers.

Inspector Brian Buddo said:
"Children, teenagers and even some adults need to understand the dangers of the railway - that's the message from British Transport Police as our officers spend the next two months targeting trespassers across the network.

While taking trespassers through the courts remains open to BTP, the main focus of this campaign is prevention - stopping people getting on the track in the first place.

Our officers have already visited a number of schools to warn children, face-to-face, of the dangers of straying onto the railway.

We need parents to play their part, too - making children aware of how dangerous a place the railway can be."

British Transport Police have released a number of CCTV videos of trespassing on the region's railways (below) to discourage people from doing the same.

Below: CCTV of a man trespassing at the Stadium of Light Metro

Below: Footage of children playing on the platform at Fellgate Metro Station