RAIL bosses yesterday admitted people were afraid to travel after dark on the Tyne and Wear Metro.

Mike Parker, director general of Metro operator Nexus, said: "People's perceptions of public transport, especially at night, are not good."

His report to the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority acknowledged that problems such as criminal damage and anti-social behaviour colour people's perception of travelling by public transport.

Although incidents of serious crime on the network are extremely rare, research had found that existing and potential public transport users were concerned.

Mr Parker promised the authority a raft of measures would be introduced to improve security. This includes a confidential hotline, so passengers can phone or text to alert staff to problems as they happen.

Staff will also set targets to curb anti-social behaviour and crime on the system, and establish a centralised database of all incidents.

Street lighting will be improved on approaches to public transport facilities, and Nexus will work with the police to target stations and interchanges known to be gathering points for gangs of youths.

More Metro trains will be equipped with security cameras, bringing the total up to 20 by next March, at a cost of £90,000.

Mr Parker said: "Areas of concern are waiting areas, approaches to stations and on board trains.

"It's worth pointing out that incidents of serious crime on public transport are rare and what we deal with is criminal damage, graffiti and low-level anti-social behaviour.

"We are combating these problems by beefing up our CCTV and evidence gathering and adding travel support officers to the system at night, as well as working with the local authorities to improve lighting on the approaches to stations."