MERSEYRAIL has seen red after vandals painted a commuter train at West Kirby in New York subway style graffiti. It stopped the morning rush hour hour service between West Kirby and Liverpool.

Transport police are treating the attack seriously and say: "We are looking at the style of painting. Graffiti artists have their own signatures."

Vandals broke into West Kirby station overnight and used spray cans on the train.Globe work experience trainee Ian Edwards was among luckless passengers on the garish train as it attempted an abortive journey on a busy Friday morning commuter run.

"Thanks to this vandalism I and other commuters on the train were at least 45 minutes late for work," he said.

The train painted red, orange and silver got as far as Leasowe station and was forced to turn back for safety reasons. Passengers were stranded at Leasowe for 18 minutes waiting for the next train to arrive.

Ian said: "It was clear by the nature of the damage to the train that it was unsafe for it to complete its journey. The windows at the front of the train had been sprayed over creating poor visibility for the driver."

A Merseyrail spokesman explained: "The train had to be taken out of service due to the damage caused. This act of vandalism has caused our passengers a great deal of inconvenience and delay. The train will have to be completely cleaned, or even re-painted," said a spokesman.

Merseyrail warns it is now on the track of the graffiti artists.

"We are working in close conjunction with British Transport Police to find the vandals and prevent further incidents of this kind," said the spokesman.

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