British Transport Police are launching a school holiday campaign to prevent young vandals from targeting trains.

The move comes as police claim children as young as five are putting their lives at risk - and those of rail passengers - by throwing things at trains.

A crackdown is being planned from next week to target the culprits and keep the number of incidents, which notoriously rise during the summer break, at a low.

Sergeant Mick Jackson, of the British Transport Police, said railway lines in Laisterdyke and Bowling had been vandalism hotspots and there had been several instances of objects being hurled at trains.

He said: "They are obviously very serious offences that can cause very serious injuries.

"When you take account of the speed of a moving train, the impact of a stone hitting a window is very considerable. "The threat to people's safety is immense.

"Generally speaking, those responsible tend to be aged between 10 and 16 - but some are as young as five. In a few cases even adults are involved.

"We target resources at identified hotspots, but also we have an on-going programme of visits to schools - especially primaries - to try to get across the message that railway lines are dangerous places.

"There have even been instances where youngsters have been playing "chicken" on the line, putting their own lives at serious risk.

"Children have a chance if they are hit by a car, but a train will kill them."

Last summer a group of youngsters threw an object at a train at Shipley station, injuring a passenger.

An initiative to promote the safety message to more than 200 primary school children has been launched in Keighley.

Safety lessons were given in a venture organised by Keighley Worksafe Project and the Worth Valley Railway's Preservation Society and funded by Keighley Single Regeneration Budget and the Bradford Health Action Zone.

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