TRAIN operator Arriva Trains Northern has reduced fares by a quarter on one of its North-East routes until the end of the month.

The company says the move is to thank customers using the Durham Coast route between Middlesbrough, Stockton, Billingham, Hartlepool and Sunderland.

Travellers using the link have suffered severe disruption in recent months for a number of reasons.

These have included a landslide at Hartlepool, engineering work for the Sunderland Metro link and, most recently, the discovery of an unexploded Second World War bomb in Sunderland.

Arriva says the response to the discount, introduced earlier this month, has been encouraging.