A BLACKBURN woman was unable to "Take It Easy" after a delayed train meant that she missed an Eagles concert.

But the following night it was "The Same Old Scene" when another hold-up led to her missing part of a Roxy Music show.

Sara Boothman, of Whalley Old Road, Little Harwood, decided that catching the train from Blackburn was the best way of getting to the concerts. She said: "We were getting the 6.28 train from Blackburn, straight to the MEN Arena. We arrived at the station and an announcement was made that the train was delayed until 7.05, another message said there was a further delay. The concert was starting at 7.45 so we decided to jump in a taxi to Manchester but that cost us £40. We arrived at the arena at 8.15 and we had already missed a third of the performance."

The following evening, Sara and a friend planned to catch the same train for the Roxy Music gig.

"I got my friend to telephone the station to check if it would be on time," she said.

"They reassured there was no problem and everything was running on time. It arrived on time but we got a few miles up the track and it stopped. Nobody told us what was going on, we were all sat there twiddling our thumbs.

"Eventually we were told there were technical problems. Apparently children had been playing on the tracks. We got to the concert in time for Roxy Music but missed all of the support band."

The disappointment of missing two events on consecutive evenings has made Sara apprehensive about catching the train again. "I am losing my faith. I do not like driving to Manchester but I am not going to be left with any choice. It was very, very upsetting and tiring. I could not relax because I was so wound up, it spoiled my night.

"We are asking for compensation, but it can't make up for the disappointment of missing the concerts."

A spokeswoman for First Northwestern Trains said: "The customer was just very unlucky.

"On Tuesday a train failed at Salford Crescent.

"We made attempts to provide another service but unfortunately couldn't.

"On Wednesday the same train was delayed for 50 minutes due to vandalism on the line at Blackburn.

"We would like to apologise to the customer and others on the train.

"If the customer wants to write in to us we will give a full explanation and take the matter from there.

"We will certainly look into it."