VANDALS are becoming increasingly responsible for delaying trains in East Lancashire, according to the official rail watchdog.

The £5million redevelopment of Blackburn's train station was also criticised in the annual report of the Rail Passengers' Committee for "not being thought through" although it today admitted improvements had been made.

According to the group, the punctuality of First North Western and Arriva Trains Northern was being hampered by youngsters throwing items, such as stones, from embankments.

A train has to stop and undergo safety checks if it is struck, which creates knock-on delays for the rest of the network.

David Butterworth, of the FNW sub-committee for the RPC, said: "Railway crime is becoming a serious problem in parts of East Lancashire and mainly it is children throwing stones at trains.

"This can cause long term delays."

During 2000-2001 there were 437 incidents of trespass and vandalism in Lancashire, which meant that trains were delayed for a total of more than 200 hours. No more recent figures were available.

Inspector John Vernon of the British Transport Police said in terms of crime figures offences were declining, but he accepted that many incidents which delayed trains could be going unreported.

"We don't refer to it as vandalism any more as it tended to water it down," he said, "We call it route crime.

"We are significantly winning the battle by increasing police patrols. The commonest offence is trespassing on a railway, which can lead to throwing things at the train or placing obstructions on the line."

Mr Butterworth also he had worked hard lobbying FNW this year to improveBlackburn's train station.

He claimed that initially passengers were so confused by the poor layout they struggled to find the way out.

Other problems cited included badly positioned information screens, the absence of large clocks and a lift shaft hiding the ticket office.

Mr Butterworth said most of these had now been rectified now and that a digital clock could soon be placed on the platform.

"I think the problems are a reflection on the present state of the railway industry in that there were many different parties involved in the station's construction," he said.

"In many respects it is a marked improvement on its predecessor but the details have not been thought through.

"It was a quite a battle to get that extra work done. The next battle will be on the clocks."

Arriva was also rapped in the report for the continuing strikes which have affected its services for two days every month this year. Conductors are set to walk out again tomorrow forcing the cancellation of the TransPennine Express through Preston, Blackburn, Accrington and Burnley.