NORMAL rail services have now resumed following signal cable theft which 'severely disrupted' trains this morning.

Northern Rail services between Blackburn, Accrington, Burnley and onto Hebden Bridge, and from Rosegrove and Colne, had to be replaced by buses after thieves stuck at Burnley Manchester Road station.

A spokesman for Northern Rail said: “Cabling has been stolen in the Burnley Manchester Road area overnight, causing a severe disruption to services."

Northern Rail completed work to replace the 100 metres of cable stolen at 4am at midday and services resumed at around 1pm.