A WARNING has been issued after a teenager was spotted jumping onto the side of a moving train.

A group of four boys aged between 15 and 16 were seen approaching a train at Redcar East rail station on Thursday, November 8.

As the train was about to leave the station, one of the teenagers leapt onto the side of the train before jumping back onto the platform shortly afterwards.

A police officer investigating the incident called it “incredibly foolish”. PC Gary Sykes, of the British Transport Police, added: “I urge those who think that jumping on the sides of trains is fun to think about the consequences of their actions.

“Luckily on this occasion no-one was hurt but someone could have quite easily been seriously injured or even killed.”

It is not known whether this incident is related to the extreme sport of ‘train surfing’, a dangerous phenomenon that sees individuals try to cling to the side of moving trains for as long as possible.

Viral videos of train surfers in Stockholm and India have attracted hundreds of thousands of views online and copycat incidents have led to serious, sometimes fatal consequences for those partaking in the risky activity.

An Australian teenager who called himself the ‘Kelly Slater of train surfing’ died in January after being electrocuted when train surfing in Melbourne.

A spokeswoman for the British Transport Police said that the activity remained relatively uncommon in the UK and urged people in train stations to take safety advice very seriously.

Anyone with information about the incident at Redcar East train station, which happened at around 7.45pm, should contact the British Transport Police on 0800-40-50-40 quoting B6/NEA of 13/11/12 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800-555-111.