Fears over ticket office changes

Southeastern said the planned changes would affect 29 stations

A rail firm's plans to cut ticket office opening hours have led to claims security will be affected.

Plans to change opening hours would go ahead in April if approved and would affect 29 stations, Southeastern said.

The Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) said unmanned stations would attract troublemakers.

A spokeswoman for Southeastern said more CCTV was being installed on trains and at stations and numbers of rail enforcement officers had increased.

The plans affect stations in Kent, East Sussex and south London.

TSSA general secretary Gerry Doherty said: "Families, the elderly and the young should not be left to fend for themselves in the evenings and at weekends."

Security ... is a priority Southeastern

He said: "This will particularly worry single women who find themselves working late or returning home after an evening out."

Staff in ticket offices provided reassurance and deterred potential vandals and graffiti artists, he added.

But the rail firm spokeswoman said: "Security at stations and on board trains is a priority for passengers and for us."

And she said the rail enforcement officers - a team of employees trained and accredited by the British Transport Police - were "a visible reassuring presence for passengers particularly late at night".

The rail firm said planned changes reflected passenger use of services - Dover Priory currently opened in the early hours but sold few tickets, while Ashford was open around the clock, but sold few tickets late at night.