Travellers on the Yorkshire rail network will no longer be charged to report crime on their phone.

The British Transport Police (BTP) have come to an arrangement with the Big Four phone networks to ensure their customers are not charged for using the 61016 text service.

Three UK, Vodafone, O2, and EE made the change after BTP chief constable, Lucy D’Orsi, wrote to the four networks earlier this year.

A BTP spokesperson said that "the smaller networks" are "starting to follow suit."

BTP launched the 61016 service in 2013, which BTP claims made it the first police force to offer a non-emergency text service for reporting crime and incidents on the railway.

Ms D’Orsi said: "BTP’s 61016 service is a hugely important crime reporting tool for the most vulnerable who travel and work on the rail network.

"Now that 61016 is free-to-text, anyone who is a victim of crime can contact BTP immediately, regardless of any restrictions on their phone contract or whether they have phone credit."

As well as the 61016 text functionality, BTP’s Railway Guardian App offers a range of different methods of reporting crime, including anonymously via Crimestoppers.