Tyne and Wear Metro cable theft stopped early-morning services

The theft happened overnight in the Howdon area of North Tyneside, operator Nexus said

Thieves have stolen cabling from the Tyne and Wear Metro line stopping services on part of the system for early-morning commuters.

The theft happened overnight in the Howdon area of North Tyneside, operator Nexus said.

All services were suspended between St James and North Shields for a period before 06:00 GMT.

Passengers were able to use buses and services resumed ahead of the peak morning rush hour on Monday.

A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: "An investigation has been launched following a theft of cables on the Metro network between Wallsend and Walkergate.

"The theft which occurred shortly before 01:00 resulted in substantial disruption.

"We will not tolerate this type of behaviour and will be using every tactic at our disposal in order to identify those responsible and take swift action against them."