WOULD-BE thieves tried to steal cable from Metrolink lines, causing service cancellations, transport bosses have said.

Passengers could travel on the Metrolink between Bury and Whitefield, but the service was not running between Whitefield and Crumpsall.

Instead, passengers had to transfer on to buses, where Metrolink tickets were being accepted.

The disruption began at 7am today and was back running at 6pm.

A Metrolink spokesman said: "Following the attempted cable theft between Heaton Park and Bowker Vale which caused Metrolink Bury line services to be replaced by buses today, the damage has been repaired and trams are now running again.

"Passengers may experience some delays as the service re-forms this evening.

"The affected section of the overhead power line was between Whitefield and Crumpsall and was repaired, reinstalled and re-calibrated to allow trams to run again.

"The section affected on the Bury line was around a kilometre long."