Train guard threatened with gun

The incident took place on the Leeds to Ribblehead service

A train guard was threatened with a gun after refusing to let two men travel at a station in the Yorkshire Dales.

Two men had been ejected from the train at Settle station on Saturday night but returned with an airgun as the train arrived at Horton in Ribblesdale.

One of the men pointed the gun at the guard to scare him, a British Transport Police spokesman said.

"This was an extremely serious incident which left the guard and passengers extremely frightened," he said.

A woman and her two children who were on the platform dropped to the floor as they feared for their own safety, the spokesman said.

The train guard and driver were left "extremely shaken" but were not physically injured.

This weapon was clearly used in a threatening manner to scare the train guard Sgt David Grant, British Transport Police

The guard had earlier intervened at Settle station when the men tried to prise open the train doors to get on board as it was about to leave the station.

He refused to let them travel and they became abusive towards him and pulled his tie off and threw it on the floor as they were ejected onto the platform, police said.

They are then believed to have followed the train route to Horton where they confronted the guard.

The man who brandished the weapon is described as white, in his late teens to early 20s, about 6ft 2ins, heavily built, with short, spiky hair and wearing a blue jacket.

The second man was white, in his late teens to early 20s, 5ft 9ins to 5ft 10ins, with slightly ginger hair. He was wearing a beige jacket and a black woolly hat with a badge on the front.

Sgt David Grant, of British Transport Police, said: "This weapon was clearly used in a threatening manner to scare the train guard who had previously ejected these two offenders.

"I am especially appealing for information as to how these two men travelled from Settle to Horton. Did somebody give them a lift or did they take a taxi?

"This is a small rural community and I'm sure somebody knows exactly who the person with the weapon is."