KENT'S rail passengers must continue to put up with slam-door trains - at least for the time being.

And that is despite a warning from the Health and Safety Executive that they don't perform well in crashes.

Three train companies in the South of England have been told they can continue running 40-year-old rolling stock with slam doors for another year.

The trains were due to be taken out of service by December 2004. However, Southern, South Eastern and South West Trains, said they could not meet that deadline.

Now the Health and Safety Executive has given permission to carry on using them until November 2005.

The three firms say they have power and reliability problems with new trains. They say they hope to beat next year's deadline and replace the old trains by the summer.

KM-fm's Nadia Jean has this report...