TWO children risked their lives after clambering onto live train tracks to fetch a tennis ball.

British Transport Police (BTP) officers were called to Thornton Heath railway station at 8.51pm on Saturday after a member of the public reported seeing the two boys trespassing on the tracks.

A BTP spokesman said: "It appears the youths were playing with a tennis ball which then fell onto the tracks.

"After waiting for a train to leave the platform, the boys then walked to the end of the platform and down onto the tracks to try and retrieve the ball before returning to the platform."

BTP officers attended the station but the boys, along with a friend, had left the station.

Following a search of the area, officers located the boys, a 10-year-old and an 11-year-old, both from Thornton Heath.

Inspector Jack Ioannou, based at Croydon BTP station on Addiscombe Road, said: "When spoken to by officers and warned of the dangers of their actions, the boys admitted going on the tracks. As a result they were taken to their home addresses and were reprimanded for their actions.

"This was dangerous behaviour that could have had far worse consequences.

"BTP officers work closely with Southern, other train operating companies and Network Rail to educate people about the dangers of going near railway lines because trains can't swerve and they can't stop suddenly.

"By going (on the tracks) the youths were also putting themselves near the live third rail, which powers trains across London and the south, carries 750 volts of electricity and remains switched on 24 hours a day, seven days a week."