Rail bosses have praised a hard-hitting rail safety campaign run by the Coventry Evening Telegraph.

The Keep Off The Tracks initiative was launched by the newspaper, Railtrack and Coventry's British Transport Police in July.

During the National Rail Awards in London more than 800 leading figures of the rail industry commended the Evening Telegraph's work.

Richard Fearn, a Railtrack director, said: "The scheme not only helped to raise public awareness to the problem faced by the industry but also helped to ingrain the safety message into everyday life."

Since the crackdown new figures have shown a 53 per cent drop in the number of youths trespassing on tracks.

The number of incidents of debris and obstacles being left on the line also fell by 80 per cent, with stone-throwing attacks dramatically cut, and overall, vandalism and crime was cut by 59 per cent.

The campaign highlighted the dangers of youngsters risking the safety of travellers, and their own lives, by leaving obstacles on the line and pelting trains, and saw British Transport Police officers conduct talks in schools and undertake observation duties along Coventry's railway lines.

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