Parents are calling for better security around a railway track near their homes after a serious incident involving a five-year-old boy.

The call comes after a 12-year-old boy was charged with endangering the safety of the child on the track.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, will appear at Hartlepool Youth Court on Wednesday.

He has been charged with obstructing a train and endangering the safety of a person on a railway line after a train driver was forced to make an emergency stop just after 4pm on Thursday.

Acting Sergeant Nigel Ashworth, of the British Transport Police, said police were called to the embankment, in Hindpool Close, by people at the nearby Phoenix Community Centre.

He said the driver of the passenger train had to put on the emergency brakes after spotting the youngsters on the line.

The 12-year-old was questioned at Hartlepool police station and charged.

The five-year-old boy was not injured and police believe no other children were involved.

Parents on the Central Estate, near where the incident happened, yesterday called for better safety measures to stop children trespassing on the track.

Emma Maunder, 20, of Otterpool Close, which overlooks the embankment, said the incident had unnerved many parents.

"Kids are so nave - they don't realise the dangers of it.

"That's why there should really be better security to stop them getting on the line," she said.

Michael Wallace, 20, of Mansepool Close, who has a two-year-old son, said: "It should never have happened because there should have been fencing up. I am worried. I think a lot of people are around here."

A mother who did not wish to be named said: "I am frightened. I think there are issues with the railway and with safety, but there are other problems too.

"It has made me feel nervous for my kids. It's just fortunate it wasn't more serious."

But Julie Ashley, 41, said it was up to parents to make sure their children kept off the railway line.

"I've brought up three daughters next to it and I've had no bother. They would not dare go near," she said.

In February 1999, 13-year-old Lee Anderson was killed by a train while trespassing on the track in the same area