Crackdown on stone-throwing yobs

British Transport police (BTP) have launched a crackdown on yobs who throw stones at trains and play on railway tracks in the North West.

Officers have drawn up a list of the 10 worst hotspots in the region and are stepping up patrols in these areas.

According to BTP, the school holidays and the onset of lighter nights often leads to a rise in offences like stone throwing, vandalism and trespassing.

Six areas in Greater Manchester and two in Lancashire are under the spotlight.

As well as a mix of high visibility and plain-clothes patrols, officers will be using motorbikes to access more rural areas and relying on closed circuit television cameras to identify offenders in and around stations.

'Badly injured'

Insp Tony Fitzpatrick, of BTP, said. "We know that incidents increase at this time of year and we hope that by targeting the most prominent areas we will reduce the number of incidents and catch some of the mindless individuals responsible.

"I cannot emphasise strongly enough the dangers associated with this type of crime.

"We are regularly called to incidents where youngsters are badly injured and in some cases killed because they were messing about on or near the railway.

"I am urging parents and responsible adults to emphasise these dangers and ensure youngsters keep away from the track this Easter."

In March and April last year there were a total of 157 incidents of railway-related crime.

Among the areas where patrols will be stepped up are Ashton-Under-Lyne, Bolton, Wigan, Moston, Brinnington, Burnage, Preston and Blackburn.