Patrols set up in bid to catch railway blaze youths (This is Devon 09/08/10)

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

From This is Devon:

Bicycle patrols set up in a bid to catch railway blaze youths

Police and fire chiefs are taking to riding bicycles to try to catch youths risking death by setting fire to railway embankments in the city. The cycle patrols have been introduced as a result of children climbing over protective fencing or reaching through to torch the embankments at Pinhoe and Whipton.

Firefighters have been called out to an increasing number of blazes over the past two weeks. The latest was beside the main high-speed line carrying the Exeter to London express.

Youths are targeting land beside the tracks between Bettysmead playing fields and the Arena at Whipton and between Pinhoe train crossing in Station Road and the railway bridge.

Mickey Turner, watch manager at Danes Castle fire station, said the bikes would enable patrollers to access areas cars could not reach. He warned a child could get sucked underneath an express train travelling at more than 70mph if they got too close to the track.

"The police and the fire service are using cycles to patrol these areas to stop who they believe to be youngsters from setting fire to the embankments," he said. "What they are doing is very dangerous. Over the past couple of weeks, the number of fires has reached double figures. The embankments are tinder-dry at the moment and fires could easily get out of hand as they spread alongside the railway track. We are also afraid that a youngster could get dragged under a train. We want to nip it in the bud before someone is injured or even killed. We are also urging parents to tell their children not to light fires and to stay away from railway property because of the dangers."

[Bob_Blakey]

Firefighters have been called out to an increasing number of blazes over the past two weeks. The latest was beside the main high-speed line carrying the Exeter to London express.

Youths are targeting land beside the tracks between Bettysmead playing fields and the Arena at Whipton and between Pinhoe train crossing in Station Road and the railway bridge.

...and there was I thinking the 'main high-speed line carrying the Exeter to London express' was the route to Paddington, while this article refers exclusively to the Exeter-Salisbury line. More top quality reporting by the 'This Is Devon' crew!

[signalandtelegraph]

At least it will tidy the banks up, shame they dont burn back vegetation like they used to do.