Three teenagers who admitted hanging a sack of stones in front of an express train doing 90mph have been ordered to pay compensation to the train company and the engine driver.

The trio -- two from Kings Sutton and one from Middleton Cheney -- cannot be named for legal reasons.

They appeared at Northampton Youth Court on Wednesday charged with endangering the safety of persons using the railway and with criminal damage.

The court heard that, in September last year, the youths, two aged 16 and one 17, suspended a sack filled with stones from a railway bridge near Kings Sutton station.

The sack smashed through the windscreen of a Virgin express that had 300 passengers on board. The train driver saw the bag seconds before impact and avoided serious injury by taking cover behind his seat.

Sgt Dick Evans, of British Transport Police, said at the time: "The train driver was extremely lucky. He had just a couple of seconds to react."

Railtrack offered at £2,000 reward for information leading to a conviction, and Virgin offered £1,000.

The youths were arrested after house-to-house inquiries in Kings Sutton and as a result of information received.

On Wednesday, the youths were each given a 16-hour reparation order, and were told to pay £214 each to Virgin Trains and £25 each to the driver.