HUMAN SCARECROWS FRIGHTEN OFF RAIL VANDALS IN CARDIFF & NEWPORT

Tuesday 1 Aug 2006

HUMAN SCARECROWS FRIGHTEN OFF RAIL VANDALS IN CARDIFF & NEWPORT

Region & Route:: | Wales & Western: Wales & Borders; | Wales & Western

Human scarecrows are being deployed by Network Rail in crime hotspots throughout Newport and Cardiff this summer. The scarecrows will act as deterrents to railway trespassers and vandals who have a history of abusing the railway in these areas. The human scarecrows will patrol hotspot areas between Cardiff East and Marshfield, Eask Usk and Alexandra Dock Yard (Newport), and St Fagans and Ely Woods (west of Cardiff), until early September to reinforce the message that the railway is not a playground. Mark Langman, Network Rail’s General Manager for Wales & the Marches, said: “These scarecrows will play a key role in our summer campaign to tackle railway crime. The Cardiff scarecrow used for the first time last summer proved invaluable in helping us combat railway crime in the area. Building on that success we are increasing the area covered and introducing them for the entire summer holiday period as this is when we see an increase in the number of young people trespassing on the railway, throwing stones at trains and leaving objects on the line – all of which could lead to devastating consequences.” The human scarecrows will patrol hotspot areas both on foot and by vehicle and will be in frequent contact with the Network Rail’s control centre and with patrolling police officers from the British Transport Police. Cardiff East ranks in the top five national railway crime hotspot areas in the UK. Network Rail targeted the area last week through No Messin’ Live!, a campaign based that looks to demonstrate to young people the many other activities available in the local area other than playing on the railway tracks. Mark concluded: “No Messin’ Live! was a great success in Cardiff last week and showed over 900 young people from the area that there is a range of activities available to them that don’t involve the risk of injury, disfigurement and death.”

Notes to editors

The Human Scarecrows will patrol the hotspot areas throughout the summer holidays, inclusive from 10:00 hours until 22:00 hours when we experience high levels of railway crime. No Messin’ Live! was a two day event held at the Eastern Leisure Centre in Cardiff East on 25 and 26 July. The event was one in a series of ten events taking place during the summer holidays, and forms part of Network Rail’s national campaign to reduce death and injury on the railway by giving young people ideas about positive ways to spend their time. The young people who attended the event had the chance to try out a range of activities in three zones – sport, gaming and music – including football, boxing, DJ-ing, urban dance, a climbing wall and a surf simulator. There are an estimated 27 million cases of trespass on Britain’s railways every year, including 640,000 objects placed on the tracks and four million objects thrown at trains. Network Rail has ten dedicated Railway Crime Education Managers who work closely with other parts of the railway industry, offering railway safety information and visits to schools, youth offending teams, youth clubs and councils throughout the UK.

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