People living next to railway lines are being urged to secure their outdoor belongings after two trampolines were blown on to tracks by Storm Eleanor.
The trampolines were discovered by train crews near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, on Tuesday night.
Mark Killick, chief operating officer for Network Rail’s London North Western route, said: “It is incredible to think that a trampoline could fly through the air on to the railway but here we have not one but two at the same location.
“This is an ongoing problem for us which poses an obvious safety hazard and inconvenience to passengers.
“We would appeal to people living by the railway to ensure items such as trampolines, gazebos, marquees and tents are tethered so they don’t end up on the railway during high winds.”
A trampoline that blew over in Leeds (Iryna Mi/PA)
Network Rail staff shifted the trampolines off the track and tethered them for removal on Wednesday.
A number of other trampolines were also caught in the high winds, with several photos posted on social media.
Twitter user Ashleigh from Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, described how a trampoline bought as a Christmas present for her son was taken by the wind despite being “held down by all sorts of equipment”.
People hold down a trampoline in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland (@ashjanewaide/PA)
She wrote: “Devastating scenes! Brand new 12ft trampoline flew over our 10ft gate. Completely destroyed and took 10 neighbours to get it back into our garden!
“While bringing it back in it was lifting us all off the ground with it! Stay safe folks, just glad no one got hurt.”
She added that her son was “very upset”.
Kerry Hurst from Essex posted a picture of an upturned trampoline in a garden with the caption: “RIP trampoline. This wasn’t fun to dismantle in 70mph winds at 3am. It took up too much of my garden anyway.”
It is not the first time Network Rail has been forced to issue a plea about trampolines.
During Storm Doris in February last year, the government-owned body reported that it had to remove a number of items from the railway including trampolines, garden sheds and a child’s pop-up tent.