NEW "on-the-spot" fines are to be introduced on hundreds of North Yorkshire trains as rail bosses get tough with fare dodgers.

Transport chiefs will not say how much money is lost to the fare dodgers each year.

But it is believed to run into tens of thousands of pounds - costs which are eventually passed on to honest train travellers.

Now, anyone found using a train run by Arriva Trains Northern without a valid ticket risks being landed with a £10 on-the-spot fine - and the cost of their journey.

Repeat offenders - those caught three times or more - will have their details automatically passed to British Transport Police.

They could then be arrested on the train, get off at their chosen station to find police are waiting for them or face a private prosecution from Arriva at a later date.

The hard-line system has been introduced to cut down on statistics which show that one-in-five people regularly dodge their fares.

It will be enforced by a 40-strong team of "revenue protection inspectors" who will patrol the railways to root out the dodgers.

They will work alongside conductors, who have also been given the power to issue the fixed penalty fines.

The managing director of Arriva Trains Northern, Nigel Patterson, said: "We are committed to maintaining efficient services across our whole network, and fare dodgers are costing us a considerable amount of revenue.

Meanwhile, Arriva bosses have boosted a charitable project at York University by £600.

Organised by members of York Student Community Action (YSCA), the project offers youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds the chance to enjoy a week at Whitby.

Updated: 12:26 Friday, June 08, 2001