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 | | Monday, 16 July, 2001, 16:55 GMT 17:55 UK West Midlands worst for rail vandalism  Vandals on the railways will be watched Extra undercover police patrols will be on West Midlands railways after the region topped a national league for rail vandalism and trespass. The league figures, produced by Railtrack, show the number of cases in the region in June is up by a quarter on last year, to 209. Railtrack says hooligans are becoming more daring and foolhardy and fears the problem will escalate during the school holidays. Chief Inspector Colin Edwards, of the British Transport Police, said: "Probably one of the worst cases recently was when we had a child who was playing chicken in front of a train coming towards him. Stone throwing "He managed to get out of the path of the train with three seconds to spare." Vandalism incidents in the West Midlands have ranged from stone throwing to bikes and shopping trolleys being dumped on railway lines.
Signs and equipment have also been tampered with and embankment fires have been started. The Stechford area of Birmingham is one of the worst hit, with 62 incidents in the past 12 months. In a bid to combat the problem, posters showing the horrific consequences of playing on railway lines have been sent to schools in the run-up to the summer holidays. The undercover police teams are also looking to make more arrest and are hoping the courts will not be afraid to hand down custodial sentences. | | Internet links:  The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top UK stories now:  Links to more UK stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||||
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