COMMUTERS travelling to and from York were hit by rush-hour delays, after equipment was stolen from railways lines in Yorkshire.

The theft from signalling systems affected services west and south of York, and also caused knock-on delays for other services.

The problem primarily affected passengers travelling between York and Leeds, Manchester Airport, Sheffield, Derby, Birmingham, Huddersfield, Halifax, Burnley and Blackpool.

A message on the National Rail Inquiries website said the problem was reported to them at 6.27am yesterday, and caused delays of up to 30 minutes.

Network Rail spokeswoman Rachel Lowe said: "We have had line-side kit stolen from two locations. The first was just before 3am on the Millfield to Castleford route, which is the diversionary route for Leeds to York.

"Then at 5.10am there was a theft at Micklefield, near Church Fenton, so we had our main route and diversionary route down."

She said the main route was 95 per cent restored by 8.45am, but said it has caused delays during the morning rush hour.

And commuters got a shock on their way to work in York after a streetlamp fell on the doubledecker bus they were riding.

The Number 5 bus from the city centre to Strensall was travelling along Haley's Terrace, towards Huntington Road, when the light enclosure from a streetlamp fell on its roof. Kevin MacFarlane, owner of Clippers Barbershop, in Haley's Terrace, said: "At about 9am, I'd just come to work and I heard a bang.

"I looked out of the window and a bus had stopped outside the fish and chip shop.

"The light fitting had dropped on top of the bus and half of it had shattered. If someone had been walking underneath, it would have really hurt their head.

"All the passengers got off the bus and got on one that was travelling just behind them.

"The passengers looked a bit bemused - they were all looking up to see what had happened. I bet they were shocked."

An eyewitnesses described seeing marks on the side of the bus, but could not confirm whether it had actually struck the streetlamp.

Peter Edward, commercial director of First York, said: "This will be investigated and sorted out. We'll take whatever action we need to.

"Until I know all the circumstances, we won't know what happened."

Bus passengers were also delayed in York, after a door fell off.

The incident happened on a Number 11 service at Bishopthorpe yesterday morning.

Mr Edwards said: "One of the doors came adrift from the track at the top while they were closing the door.

Because it came adrift it fell out under its own weight."

Mr Edwards said a replacement bus was sent out immediately, and the vehicle affected would be fixed and put back in service "in no time".