SCRAP metal thieves brought nine hours of chaos to East Lancashire train services after ripping out 100 metres of copper signalling cable.

Hundreds of passengers were hit as rail chiefs had to cancel 17 trains and delay another 12 while engineers carried out urgent repairs.

An organised gang struck at 4am yesterday, stealing 100-metres of copper cabling running alongside the track between Burnley Manchester Road Station and Healey Wood Road.

The theft immediately turned the nearby signal light to red, alerting rail bosses.

Engineers rushed to the scene, but the process of finding replacement cable, splicing it into position and carrying out safety checks took almost nine hours.

The busy Northern Rail Transpennine service had to be cancelled between Blackburn and Hebden Bridge, through Accrington and Burnley, from until 1pm.

The local service from Rosegrove to Colne was also hit. A replacement bus service was laid on for passengers.

Network Rail is now offering a reward of £1,000 for anyone with information that will lead to the successful prosecution of those involved.

The price of scrap metal has soared in recent years due to demand from countries such as China and India.

A tonne was selling for $7,514 on the London Metal Exchange this week.

The high cost has created a black market, which the Environment Agency has estimated to be worth £4.8million a year in East Lancashire.

Network rail declined to reveal how much the cable taken was worth. Last year 500 metres of copper cable stolen from the railway line in Lower Darwen was said to be worth £52,000.

Police have launched a hunt for the organised gang, who would have needed at least a van and a number of people to transport the cable.

Glyn Hellam of British Transport Police, said: “One hundred metres is a sizeable amount that has caused a serious affect on the railway.

“It may be that the thieves have cut it down into smaller sections before taking it away in a vehicle. “ Keith Lumley of Network Rail, said the thieves had risked their lives to steal the cable.

He said: “Power supply cables run alongside the signalling cables and if they happen to pick the wrong cable, they can kill themselves.

“There’s also the very real danger of being on the lines and being hit by a train.

“But the safety of passengers was never put in danger because as soon as there is a disruption on the line, all signals go to red and trains are stopped.”

Passengers, many of whom were trying to travel during the rush hour, were left frustrated.

Raymond Ince, 36, from Padiham was travelling with his partner and two children from Burnley Manchester Road Station to Halifax to pick his daughter up. He was told a bus would be leaving at 9.44am but it did not come.

He said: “This has held us back nearly two hours.

"I'm here with my two children, one is six and one is 17 months and they're freezing "Basically we have gone round in circles since half past nine.”

At Blackburn station Jahira Jangaria, 22, a pharmaceutical management student at Bradford University, was travelling with her friend Sumayya Patel, 22, who is studying optometry.

Jahira said: "We've got to take a train from Hebden Bridge to Bradford so it will delay our journey by about 45 minutes."

Del Montgomery, who lives in Springhill Road overlooking the tracks, said: "We didn't hear anything and I was quite surprised when I heard about it this morning.

"It's a dead-end road which doesn't lead anywhere and it's usually quite quiet."

Anyone with information on the theft is asked to call 0800 40 50 40 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.