A GROUP of youngsters playing "chicken" on a Worcester railway line were dicing with death, according to police.

British Transport Police branded the game a "death waiting to happen" and revealed it took a train travelling at 100mph a mile and a quarter to come to a halt.

A spokesman for the transport police said Worcester police had informed them of a group of 10-to-15-year-olds playing chicken on the train tracks near Brickfields Road at 8pm yesterday.

"On this occasion nothing happened. We went down there and did an area search but could not find them.

"We had the trains put on caution for half-an-hour, which doesn't necessarily mean the trains are slowed substantially, it just means that the drivers are made aware of the potential problem ahead.

"Games like this are just a death waiting to happen and it's a major problem to us."

He revealed that within a five minute period, six calls were logged from across the country, including stones being thrown at a train, youngsters playing chicken and items being left on the tracks.

"That is the scale of the problem we face," he added.