EAST Lancashire's railway tracks are more prone to 'leaves on the line' than anywhere else in the region, train bosses revealed.

First North Western's training manual for drivers lists 14 potential leaf-fall areas on the Preston to Colne line - and classes the entire Blackburn to Clitheroe track a problem blackspot.

No other line in the region has been giving such warning status and the company said it poses real difficulties for them.

Denise Lennox, operations director for the Manchester-based firm, said: "While it is a joke in many quarters, it is a very serious matter as it affects how we drive the trains.

"Leaves fall or get blown on to tracks and mix with rainwater to form a mulch which sticks to the tracks. This becomes slippery and makes it much harder for drivers to break - a bit like a car on black ice.

"Drivers go through rigorous training to know how to deal with this situation and know to brake earlier. This means some journeys are longer, which is why we altered the autumn timetable."

Changes in East Lancashire included cutting the number of services which stop at Huncoat, Hapton, Pleasington and Cherry Tree.

Mrs Lennox went on: "We apologise for the inconvenience this will have caused people but by reducing stops at stations that have fewer passengers, we can build in time to allow for the extra braking we have to do at known problem areas, which we call low-adhesion areas."

Braking earlier, he explained, reduces the possibility of trains over-running station platforms.

Cherry Tree, Lostock Hall, Accrington and Blackburn stations have all been listed as "potentially hazardous" as trains had over-run there in the past six years.

Bamber Bridge is seen as a more serious risk, with three to five over-runs in six years, with Leyland on the 'critical' list, with more than six over-runs.

Leaf-fall hotspots include Pleasington, Cherry Tree, Mill Hill, Rishton, Church, Huncoat, Hapton, Brierfield, Colne and Darwen.

Paul Corry, a First North Western driver in East Lancashire for nearly three years, said: "We all know the lines around East Lancashire are particularly bad. It's basically because the area has so many trees and that does pose problems for us.

"Other things like snow and heavy rain cause us problems but at least you can see them. The leaves problem is invisible in many cases but if things are done right passengers shouldn't notice anything unusual."