Man arrested after laser pen shone at Metro driver in Sunderland

Police at the scene have arrested a man following an incident where the light was shone towards the driver as they were pulling into Sunderland station.

Commuters faced delays of up to 15 minutes after the driver was stood down.

A Metro train was withdrawn from service at South Hylton at around 4.15pm.

A Nexus spokesperson said: “A Metro driver has had a laser pen shone into their cab as they were heading towards South Hylton on Monday afternoon.

"The driver was stood down from duty as a precaution. This occurred as the train was pulling into Sunderland station.

"The police were there at the time and they have arrested a man and taken him into custody.

“The incident resulted in some delays to services through Sunderland.

“Incidents of this nature are rare on Metro. Laser pens are a distraction to train drivers and they can be also be harmful. Due to the signalling protection systems we have on Metro none of our passengers were put in any danger.

“Anyone who shines laser pens at members of our staff is committing an offence and will face prosecution through the courts.”

There is a gap in service between South Hylton and the Airport due to the train being withdrawn.