TWO drunken friends who put manhole covers on a railway line narrowly avoided prison as a judge gave a stark warning about the dangers of dicing with death on the tracks.

Lee Costello, 19, and Terry Kelly, 26, were given suspended jail sentences yesterday for what one barrister described as their "thoughtless, feckless and reckless" actions.

They were also ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work in the community by Teesside Crown Court judge George Moorhouse, who told them: "This was an act of gross, drunken stupidity."

Judge Moorhouse accepted the incident was "wholly out of character" for both young men, and that they had both shown remorse since the incident, on August 26 last year.

The judge could have jailed them for up to two years for obstructing a railway line, being reckless as to whether the safety of a person was thereby endangered.

And he told the pair: "It is my duty to ensure that others like you who commit offences like this get a clear message that it will receive a custodial sentence."

Costello, a warehouse worker of Evenwood Close, and unemployed debt collector Kelly, of Waverley Street, both of Stockton, Teesside, were each given a nine-month sentence suspended for a year.

The court heard how the friends had gone on to the trackside of the freight line at Stockton that Friday afternoon armed with an air rifle and bottles of beer.

They were spotted putting six metal manhole covers on the line by a closed circuit television operator who contacted the police and the rail authorities so trains could be halted.

When police arrived at the scene, the pair had gone into nearby woodland and one was found trying to climb a tree while the other still had the air weapon.

In interview, they claimed they had gone out for some shooting practice and had used the manhole covers to balance bottles on to give them better targets to aim for.

Peter Sabiston, defending, described Costello as "a decent young man who has behaved appallingly on one occasion" and added: "He is ashamed and concerned about the lives he may have endangered."

Paul Newcombe, for Kelly, said: "This was an act not born of malice, but of gross stupidity. This was an act not born of calculated mischief, but of gross error of judgement. It was an act not designed or timed to hurt or injure, but, on Terry Kelly's part, as thoughtless, feckless and, essentially, reckless."

The men denied the more serious charge of obstructing a railway line with intent to endanger persons - which carries a life sentence - and not guilty pleas were recorded.