FAMILIES are dicing with danger by taking their daily walk along the railway tracks between Keighley and Oxenhope.

Parents and grandparents with young children, dog walkers and groups of teenagers are treating the heritage line as a public footpath.

Some have proudly shared pictures and videos of their antics on social media, with one woman pictured doing a handstand on a metal track.

The ‘covidiots’ were this week warned that trains could still be running despite the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway being closed to the public.

Local politicians joined bosses of the volunteer-run railway in warning that people could be hit by a locomotive or injure themselves by tripping on the tracks.

Worth Valley ward councillor Rebecca Poulsen branded the activity as madness, adding: “It is extremely dangerous behaviour and is also trespassing.

“There may be times that engines or carriages have to be moved on the track, and people walking on the line could cause a horrible accident.

“There is absolutely no excuse for people taking their daily exercise on the railway track. We have many public footpaths and routes to walk around the area.”

Railway bosses issued a public warning after seeing scores of people trespassing on the line during the lockdown, with several caught on CCTV.

Operations manager Noel Hartley said: “The Worth Valley Railway’s track is private property and should not be accessed by members of the public.

“Mums, dads, grandmas and grandads have been seen taking children for walks on the railway line, along with dog walkers and other single people and groups of young people.

“There are lots of slip and trip hazards on the line, because it is a place that trains should be and not people. Trains could still appear – we are closed to the public, but may still run engineering trains.

“It concerns me that parents and grandparents are instilling an attitude into children’s minds that it is okay to walk on railway lines. Fatalities on railway lines nationally are a regular occurence and it’s absolutely awful when the victim is a child.

“We have had near misses with children in the past at the KWVR and they have been close enough.”

Keighley MP Robbie Moore said he appreciated that the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway was quiet due to the lockdown, but said it could still be used by trains.

He said: “It is an active track with full-size locomotives, and thus, should be treated like any other railway line. Walking on or near the tracks is dangerous and sets a really bad precedent for any child.

“I urge all to have some common sense, not to trespass onto the and to think about not only your safety, but the safety of others who may follow in your footsteps.”

Worth Valley ward councillor Russell Brown said taking children and dogs on the line was a “disaster waiting to happen”.

He added: “People will get used to the walk, then one day there is a train and someone gets hit. These are big pieces of kit that you don’t get a second chance with. It’s an industrial site, so keep off.

“People can also fall over and bang their head on a rail, or can trip on the sleepers. You can’t get emergency vehicles there.”

Inspector Khalid Khan, who leads the Keighley Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “We are working with the Worth Valley Railway on this issue and have been increasing patrols in the area.

“I would urge people not to consider using the train tracks as a place to exercise.”