CHILDREN narrowly missed killing a man by throwing metal objects from the viaduct in Burnley - then laughed at his plight before vanishing.

The man was walking along Arch Street near Burnley Central Station at around 7pm last night when two 'rail keys' landed on the grass just inches away from him.

The keys are semi-circular pieces of steel which hold together parts of the railway track, and weigh around half a pound each.

Sgt Aidan Pickering, of British Transport Police, said: "This is extremely dangerous.

"If the rail keys had hit the man on the head then he probably would have been killed. As it was they missed him by inches. "When the man looked up to see what had happened the children started laughing at him.

"Unfortunately they were so high up that he could not see them well enough to give police a description of them."

The man called police to report the matter, but despite a search of the railway line and the surrounding area, the culprits could not be found.

It is believed the children picked up the spare keys from the railway line, because they are difficult to remove from the track itself.

Sgt Pickering added: "It is dangerous enough for children to trespass on the line, but to throw things from the viaduct is potentially lethal.

"Parents should make sure they know where their children are playing and warn them how dangerous it is to play on railway lines."

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