Man travelling without a ticket on Metrolink charged with public order offence after verbally abusing staff

Photo: Greater Manchester Police

GMP Transport Unit assisting Metrolink at Newbold

A man has been charged and bailed with a public order offence after being arrested on the Rochdale Metrolink line.

Officers from the Greater Manchester Police Transport Unit were deployed on Rochdale travel lines on Tuesday afternoon (14 March) to assist Metrolink staff.

The man arrested had become verbally abusive after he was found to be travelling without a ticket, despite young children being present. He was arrested, charged and bailed to local courts.

In total, 1,100 commuters in both directions were checked for tickets and 47 found to be travelling without.

Officers then disrupted a fight between older school students at the Rochdale Interchange after a call from Transport for Greater Manchester.

The large groups of students were said to be 'intimidating staff and regular commuters by congregating and being disorderly'.

Two boys were removed for anti-social behaviour: one was arrested after refusing to give details, but changed his mind when in the back of a police van.

A spokesperson for Rochdale police said: “He was taken home to parents and we will now work with local neighbourhood beat officer teams, TfGM and schools to try and limit any further issues in future. We will not tolerate anti-social behaviour on the travel network.”