Youth rail safety poster campaign

Youngsters are asked to spread the rail safety message

Children are being invited to design posters to keep fellow youngsters off rail tracks through the holidays.

Central Trains has drawn up a list of the worst sites for trespass in the East Midlands, with Mansfield, Notts, and Wigston, Leics, topping the list.

It shows there are even more trespass incidents at the worst sites, than in the previous 12 months.

The posters should illustrate the danger of trespassing on the tracks and that the railway is not a playground.

Central Trains' managing director Steve Banaghan said: "This is a campaign which needs to bring the message home to the youngsters that a station should not be used as a place to hangout like a park."

EAST MIDS' RAILWAY TRESPASS INCIDENTS 2004-5 (2003-4) Wigston 44 (39) Mansfield 35 (28) Hinckley 27 (24) Wellingborough 26 (21) Long Eaton 24 (18) Kettering 33 (26) Leicester 21 (19) Syston 19 (14) Corby 15 (10) Carlton 13 (12) Narborough 13 (n/a) Langley Mill 12 (15) Attenborough 12 (9) Bulwell 11 (13) Belper 11 (9) Derby 11 (9) Loughborough 9 (7) Peartree 9 (7) Bingham 7 (11) Kibworth 5 (7)

The "Don't hit a dead end - have a train of thought" campaign asks youngsters aged 8 to 15 to design a poster to be displayed at the main stations across the Midlands.

More than 30 people have already been killed so far this year as a result of trespassing on railways in the UK, with seven in the Midlands. All were aged 14 to 18.

The poster competition is divided into categories for those under 11 and over 12. Entries have to be in by 12 August.

Rail staff visited schools in the run up to the summer holidays to help spread the safety message.