TRANSPORT officers dealt with a string of antisocial behaviour offences at Furness stations - including underage drinking and railway trespassing.

British Transport Police stepped up patrols in Furness over June half-term to stamp out antisocial behaviour taking place at the South Cumbria stations.

Officers dealt with 44 youths at Dalton Station including 29 caught loitering or ticketless travel, two reported for railway trespass, three youngsters were reported to have been smoking in the shelter and seven were cycling on the station platform.

As well as this, three 13 year-olds were caught drinking vodka and escorted back home to their parents.

A spokesman for British Transport Police said their work involves safeguarding and education - not just arrests.

He said: "A lot of the work we carry out on our patch involves dealing with anti social behaviour and quality of life offences.

"It’s not all about arresting people, it’s often a combination of education, safeguarding and enforcement."

As well as the incidents in Dalton, seven youths were also given railway safety advice and issued warnings regarding loitering in Roose.

Near Barrow a further seven youths received warnings after they were found 'messing around' on a foot crossing.

Officers said the recent installation of CCTV at Dalton Station has assisted them with incidents.

Northern installed five new cameras at Dalton Station in April and three existing cameras were also upgraded.

The improvements are part of Northern’s plans to modernise its network and, in turn, deliver even safer journeys for customers.

A spokesman for BTP is urging parents to monitor their children to prevent incidents on railway lines.

He said: "The recent installation of CCTV at Dalton has assisted us.

"And officers are equipped with body worn video, recording HD video and audio.

"But really we’d just prefer if parents didn’t let their children loiter on the stations."