A MAN found urinating in a train station and tailgating through ticket barriers was arrested by police.

Members of staff at Blackburn Railway Station were also racially abused by the man when the incident took place on Friday night.

A member of the British Transport Police confirmed they had made an arrest.

A spokesperson said: "A male who was stopped tailgating through ticket barriers, urinated against the door and racially abused a member of staff at Blackburn Station this evening has been arrested - and when sober will be interviewed."

The incident happened on the same day the BTP released their annual report, which revealed the number of crimes taking place across railways and on trains in the North West of England is on the rise.

The report also recorded that across what they call 'Division Pennine' which includes East Lancashire, there had been 41 per cent rise in the number of sexual offences reported to police.

Overall the number of all recorded crimes rose from 7,611 in 2016/17 to 8,687 in the period of 2017/18, a rise of 14 per cent.

Nationally, reports of crimes across the rail network rose by 17 per cent