THE father of a teenager who was killed on a railway line has taken part in a radio programme warning others not to trespass on train tracks.

Trevor Adams, whose son, Stuart, 15, was killed on Good Friday, March 25, in Darlington, told Radio 2 yesterday that the tragedy had sent "shockwaves" through the town and made young people heed the warnings.

Stuart and his best friend, Lee Mullis, 14, had drunk the equivalent of four or five pints of lager before they started messing around on rail tracks at the Five Arches Bridge, in the town.

They died instantly when the train struck them.

Mr Adams said society needed to tackle a two-fold problem - rail crime, including trespassing and vandalism, and young people drinking.

He said teenagers needed more activities to occupy them in the evenings and called for youth clubs to be made more relevant to today's young people.

He said: "This tragedy has impinged on so many other lives and my heart goes out to those people. I would hate another family to go through this."

Mr Adams was speaking to the Jeremy Vine Show following pictures which were released of a 17-year-old boy dicing with death while playing a game of chicken on rail tracks near Pontefract, West Yorkshire.

The teenager jumped out of the way a split-second before the Virgin Voyager train would have hit him - but security camera pictures enabled transport police to arrest and charge him with malicious damage. He was given a six-month referral order.

Mr Adams emphasised the fact that Stuart and Lee were not playing chicken, but warned: "There is only one winner in a situation like that - the train."

The Northern Echo launched the No Messin' campaign with Network Rail to highlight the dangers and promote positive alternative activities.

A two-day No Messin' roadshow will be held in the Dolphin Centre, Darlington, tomorrow and Friday, from 10am to 4pm each day. Youngsters across the region are invited to go along and take part in a range of sporting and other activities.