One of the most frustrating things for any traveller is to find the bus, train or plane they were depending on has been delayed or the service or flight cancelled altogether.

Most of us accept that such setbacks are sometimes part and parcel of travelling and cannot be avoided.

Extreme weather, accidents and even volcanoes, as we all now know, can wreak havoc with operators’ carefully drawn-up timetables, making a mockery of our own plans.

A stoical acceptance seems to be the appropriate response in the face of these setbacks.

But there are other causes which are totally unnecessary and all the more frustrating for that – a main one being theft.

Every year thieves cause massive disruptions to local and national rail services by trying to rip up cables to sell as scrap metal.

Figures from Network Rail show that in the last 12 months criminals caused 775 hours of delay to services in West and North Yorkshire, which cost it a massive £700,000 in compensation.

It is a major issue and one which Network Rail now wants the public to help it tackle.

Surely that plea will not go unheeded, especially as so many of us will have suffered because of the actions of these criminals.