LEAVES on the line are more of a problem in East Lancashire than anywhere else in the region, according to train operators First North Western.

And it's one of the excuses they have put forward for delays to rail services and even for changing the timetable to stop some trains calling at certain stations.

Leaves around those stations are said to mean drivers have to brake earlier in order to stop.

But rather than build that time into the schedule, the operators decided some trains should carry on without stopping.

Leaves might be treated as a joke by some, say First North Western but they are actually "a very serious matter."

That's as may be. But the fact is that all over Europe, and the world, leaves fall from the trees in autumn..

Other countries, where the trains run more efficiently than ours, manage to cope with the problem and so apparently does the rest of the North West and Britain.

Although much of East Lancashire is pleasantly rural it is no more leafy than other parts of the region like Cheshire.

The problem is too many trees and bushes close to lines and too little pruning. The solution is more trackside maintenance not fewer trains.