THE rowdy behaviour of some football fans led to fellow rail passengers getting first class treatment at the weekend.

A train guard offered around 25 passengers the chance to avoid the group of fans, believed to be Middlesbrough supporters returning from Sunday's defeat to Southampton, by upgrading them all to first class.

The football supporters had been accused of shouting obscenities, chanting songs and causing a general disturbance to those sharing a train carriage with them on the Virgin Trains 2045 service from London Kings Cross.

Fellow passenger Katie Liddle, travelling with her young daughter Hannah, challenged the group twice before the train guard was alerted and resolved the problem in a welcome manner.

Ms Liddle, from Newcastle, said: “Shortly after we got on and got seated, the Boro fans started singing football songs which was annoying, but not particularly offensive.

“However, this was a late train as we’d been at the Harry Potter studio tour and I was hoping my daughter would sleep on the train.

“Then they started singing songs with swear words in them, the f-word was used a few times which I didn’t like and then one of them shouted ‘effing c’.

“This was just not a nice atmosphere for anyone on the train, but especially not for my daughter.

“I went down the train and was very polite asking them not to swear as I had my 12-year-old there.

“After I sat down the singing and swearing started again – I went back down and was more firm.

“I was angry that they didn’t seem to care about anyone else but themselves."

After being alerted to the situation, a guard invited everyone in the carriage to move to first class, leaving behind the noisy football fans.

Ms Liddle said: “We were given drinks and snacks and treated wonderfully.

“My daughter was happy, it was quiet and comfortable and she managed to get some sleep.

“Hats off to Virgin Trains for doing the right thing – it was lovely to be moved to First Class and have the rest of our journey not just a peaceful one, but a rather pampered one, too.”

A spokesperson for Virgin Trains on the East Coast route said: "We do our best to look after customers and on this occasion upgrading some of the passengers to First Class was the simplest way of ensuring they could enjoy their journey."