VANDALISM in Thanet this morning led to rail services being disrupted across a wide area of the county.

A bike was thrown onto the tracks near Ramsgate at about 5am, short-circuiting the 700-volt electricity running through the third rail.

No trains were able to run until 6.40am and services were delayed by up to 25 minutes.

They were getting back to normal later this morning.

The incident was serious enough for Southeastern to prepare their Service Disruption Plan, although the buses put on standby were not used in the end.

Police are investigating the incident which follows an attack of vandalism and theft at Ramsgate railway station on Saturday night.

Bus stops outside the building were among the items damaged in the attack late in the evening, and the suspected culprits came to light after they boarded a train home to Ashford without tickets.

British Transport Police were also called to the Ashford International station at 7.30am on Sunday when three youths, two aged 16 and one aged 17, were arrested and charged with criminal damage and theft, having been caught without tickets.

They have been bailed by police pending further enquiries.