Story by TOM JACKSON TRAINS between Whittlesey and March were reduced to a crawl on Sunday evening after reports of youths playing on the tracks. Drivers were ordered to slow right down and sound the train horns to frighten off anyone who might have been

Story by TOM JACKSON

TRAINS between Whittlesey and March were reduced to a crawl on Sunday evening after reports of youths playing on the tracks.

Drivers were ordered to slow right down and sound the train horns to frighten off anyone who might have been on the tracks near the crossing at Cross Drove, near Coates.

One person from March, who caught the 8.30pm Central Trains service from Peterborough to March, said: "Just as the train went through Whittlesey station it started to slow right down, and it remained really slow to March.

"The driver of the train was hooting the horn every few minutes and, a while later, he said across the train speakers that there had been earlier reports of children playing on the line in the Whittlesey area.

"The train was made five or 10 minutes later than normal because of it."

A British Transport police spokesman confirmed that youths were seen on the Cross Drove crossing at about 8pm on Sunday.

She said: "They were not actually trespassing because they were on the crossing, but they were lurking about and it was potentially dangerous.

"It is not a criminal offence to be on the crossing because it is a public highway, but the railway area is a very dangerous place to be. It is not ground for children to play on.