Young risk lives in prank

Children as young as 10 diced with death as they dumped pieces of stone ballast onto railway tracks in Stafford, police revealed today.

The gang of four young boys were spotted walking on the Stafford to Wolverhampton line in the Rickerscote Road area on a stretch where trains reach up to 70mph.

Today British Transport Police (BTP) condemned the youths, said to have been aged between 10 and 13, as "totally reckless" and said they were putting lives of themselves and others at risk.

Passengers faced delays of around 30 minutes after the drama on Thursday afternoon while police and Network Rail dealt with the incident.

Sgt Ray Caladine, from BTP, said: "Ultimately this could have resulted in a fatality.

"Placing objects on the line is totally unacceptable. The area is well fenced off, it's not as if people don't know it is forbidden to trespass on the railway.".

He said officers had initially been called to reports of young children lying on the tracks, but that this had later been discounted.

He added: "We need to get the message home to young people and to parents that the railway is not a recreation area - it is dangerous."

"The trains do travel at speed through the area, what they did was totally reckless."

Two of the boys fled before police arrived but the remaining pair were caught by officers.

Sgt Caladine said the youngsters would be interviewed, and that he was confident that the two who fled would be identified.

He said: "Trespassing on the railway tracks is an offence - as is placing items on the line.

"On top of that there was a considerable delay to passengers.

"The train operators are trying to operate a good service for members of the public and incidents like this do not help."

In 2006 yobs dropped bricks from a railway bridge near Kidderminster Station. One lump almost killed freight train driver Joe Paxton, aged 58, who suffered 27 fractures to his face and was told he would never be able to drive a train again.