THE Northern Echo launched its No Messin' campaign in June to highlight the dangers of railway crime and to promote alternative activities.

The campaign was run in conjunction with Network Rail and was launched following the deaths of two schoolboys on a railway line in Darlington.

After Stuart Adams, 15, and Lee Mullis, 14, died, it emerged that Darlington was the worst place in the country for rail vandalism and one of the worst for trespassing last year.

By the time they died, Network Rail had already selected Darlington as one of four crime hotspots to be targeted by the No Messin' roadshow.

The boys died on Good Friday at the Five Arches Bridge, in Darlington, and after their deaths, their parents backed The Northern Echo's campaign.

Andy Scott, who was driving the train on the night of the accident, backed the campaign in the hope of preventing another tragedy.

He said his horrific experience had made him want to go into schools and share his experience with children, to try to get the message through that railways were not a playground.

Friday night's tragedy was another reminder about just how important that message is.