Police are appealing for information after a group of youths threw rocks at Costain workers in Dover.

The company has been carrying out a £44.5 million project to rebuild the Dover to Folkestone railway after damage was found to a stretch of track above Shakespeare Beach last Christmas.

However, workers were nearly hit by missiles after a gang of young people threw rocks at employees over two nights during the weekend from the cliffs.

Dover and Deal MP Charlie Elphicke condemned their actions and said: "The rocks missed site workers by inches and if they hit anyone, they could have been killed or at the very least have been seriously injured.

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"I appeal to anyone who may know who these yobs are to come forward and to parents to talk to their children about the dangers of this kind of behaviour."

Despite the near misses, more than 500 cubic metres of concrete was poured into place over the weekend during a 15-hour continuous operation, involving a fleet of 13 concrete vehicles from Kent supplier Brett concrete, using their plants at Dover and Ramsgate.

The project involves creating a new, 235 metre long viaduct that will sit on 134 piles – steel and concrete columns – of which more than 100 have been completed so far.

Network Rail's programme manager Steve Kilby added: "The consequences of a serious injury or fatality as a result of someone being hit by one of these stones would be enormous. We are taking action to put our own 24/7 security and lighting at the top of the cliff.

"This was a serious feat of organisation and we knew that once we started to pour the concrete, we couldn't stop until the whole pour was completed. That way we knew the deck would be one consistent slab with no joins."

Anyone with any information on the rock throwing incident is asked to contact Kent Police.

(LM/MH)