Railway bosses in the North-East last night pledged to target the vandals whose dangerous antics on the tracks could spark a disaster.

The region has been confirmed as one of the worst in the country for people trespassing on railway lines and putting lives at risk.

Objects left on the lines and thrown at speeding trains are among the most serious offences to have been reported.

And Darlington is the worst area for railway vandalism in the region, according to figures released by Network Rail.

It tops a list of routes in the London North Eastern region to have recorded incidents of "malicious acts and trespass".

There were 58 cases in Darlington between April 2002 and the same time this year, and more have occurred since those figures were compiled.

Stockton is fourth on the list, with 35 cases reported, and Cramlington, on the outskirts of Newcastle, eighth with 27 incidents.

In one week in May, 72 people were arrested and charged over offences committed on the railways in British Transport Police's North-Eastern area.

The figures come in the wake of a report from crime reduction charity Nacro, which said that one in three people were too scared to use public transport.

They were said to be fearful of robbery, physical attack and acts of vandalism.

A Network Rail spokeswoman said: "We are trying to educate both children and adults about the dangers of vandalism and trespass.

"We have acknowledged that it is a problem and are trying to do something about it."

Train operator GNER said it had officials going into North-East schools with transport police in a bid to warn children of the perils.

The cost to the industry is estimated at more than £150 million a year, including the price of delays - a total of 775,000 minutes a year, and damage to tracks and trains.