Children narrowly avoid track death

Railtrack yesterday reported a "near miss" only yards from where two boys were killed by a train less than 48 hours ago.

The driver of a train travelling at about 70mph reported about 10 children running on the line - including a girl as young as five. The incident occurred less than 24 hours after two teenagers, Ricky Smith, 15, and Mark Ashcroft, 13, were killed on the track near Halton Moor in Leeds. A spokesman for Railtrack said of the latest incident: "It's quite staggering that this could happen."