A BURNLEY grandmother today blasted rail chiefs for failing to erect a safety fence on a high-speed Trans-Pennine route and said: "Someone could get killed."

Anne Cragg hit out as thousands of youngsters enjoyed the second week of the Easter school holidays and said she had regularly seen children on the tracks.

She said she has urged Railtrack, which is responsible for the railway infrastucture in the UK, to erect a fence on the site but nothing has been done.

Mrs Cragg, 53, of Ellis Street, has now contacted her local councillor Liz Monk for help.

She said: "Someone could get killed on the line. I told Railtrack seven or more weeks ago that they needed to erect a fence between the small wall at the bottom of my garden and their railway line but they haven't done anything.

"We moved into our home in October last year and previous owners have obviously had problems with rubbish being dumped on the railway sides.

"There are rats on the rubbish now, it's just getting worse and no-one is doing anything about it."

Railtrack today said it would look at new fencing at the site.

A spokesman said: "If it is a low wall that needs new fencing I can't guarantee that will be sorted out straight away, but obviously it is something we are going to have to look at.

"When you have a gap in a fence where children are getting through on to the lines, that can be dealt with quickly by one of our repair teams.

"But if a new fence has to be built that will take longer."

The route, which runs along the bottom of Mrs Cragg's garden and travels through East Lancashire between Blackpool and York, has been a regular trouble spot for years.

Ellis Street is plagued by fly-tippers who dump rubbish on the railway embankment and children who climb over a low wall on to the tracks.

Coun Monk said she was shocked Railtrack had not responded to Mrs Cragg's requests and has pledged to step in to investigate,

She said: "I am shocked that Railtrack have taken no action to eradicate the danger to children.

"The Easter holidays are here and children will be playing out. Railtrack must be aware that children are attracted to railway lines as they spend enough money advertising the fact that railway lines are not a safe place for children to play.

"I will contact Railtrack and our local policemen so that they know children are playing on the line."

"Perhaps a three-pronged approach to Railtrack will emphasise the danger and get them moving to resolve the problem.

A Railtrack spokesman said: "We had an approach last week about the problem. We are looking at perhaps doing a joint clean-up venture with residents and the local authority.

"We did a similar clean-up with residents last year and we are trying to do the same thing again."