A mum from Bromborough is trying to find the "brave stranger" who stepped in to confront a drunken Merseyrail passenger after he began being aggressive during her train ride home.

Kerry Hilton, 31, was travelling home on Saturday, January 22 with her partner John Parry, 32, and her four-year-old daughter Poppy.

They had boarded the Ellesmere Port train at around 6.20pm when a man sat behind them began loudly swearing and arguing with his wife.

Kerry told the Globe: “Me and my partner just put our heads down and tried to stay out of it as we wanted to protect Poppy at all costs.

“Then a young guy, who looked around 30, stood up and asked him to stop swearing as there were young children on board but then the drunken guy began screaming and swearing at him.”

Kerry said the language became so bad at one point she was forced to put her hands over her daughter’s ears.

Kerry Hilton, 31, was travelling on the Merseyrail train with her four-year old daughter Poppy, and partner John Parry, 32

Kerry Hilton, 31, was travelling on the Merseyrail train with her four-year old daughter Poppy, and partner John Parry, 32

“The language he was using was really rude. My daughter was so shaken up and confused by the situation because she didn’t know what was going on,” Kerry said.

After the confrontation, the drunken man walked down the train.

Kerry said: “Then he suddenly came back and began shouting abuse again at the man who had stood up and defended us.

“The woman he was with was telling him to ‘sit down and shut up’ and that she deals with him doing this ‘five times a week and doesn’t need it on a Saturday’,” Kerry added.

Kerry said at this point two byelaw enforcement officers came down the carriage and told the man who had helped her that they had caught him on CCTV with his feet on the seats and were going to issue him a fine.

Kerry said: “This nice guy said he accepted the fine but it was a shame that they hadn’t arrived five minutes earlier as a man had been kicking off.

“The officers didn’t want to know and continued taking his details.”

Kerry Hilton, 31, was travelling on the Merseyrail train with her four-year old daughter Poppy, and partner John Parry, 32

Kerry Hilton, 31, was travelling on the Merseyrail train with her four-year old daughter Poppy, and partner John Parry, 32

Kerry said she began defending the man and told the officers how he had stepped in to help her and her family and how he would have felt agitated up by the situation.

“Other passengers began defending the nice guy and then we saw the officers speaking to the drunken man and telling him they were going the kick him off the train at the next stop for being abusive,” Kerry said.

Kerry said as she and her family were getting off the train at Bromborough Rake, her partner thanked the man for his act of kindness.

She said: “He did such a heroic thing in our eyes. He did such a good thing and got punished for it which I don’t think is fair.”

During the walk home from the train station, Kerry said her and her partner talked about tracking down the man who had helped them.

“We want to pay his fine and thank him properly because what he did should be recognised,” she said.

Greg Suligowski, Head of Communication at Merseyrail said: "On Saturday the 22nd January Byelaw enforcement officers were alerted to a passenger acting in an antisocial manner whilst conducting a routine patrol of our network.

"A passenger was subsequently removed from the train. We can confirm that no penalty was issued to any other passenger involved in this incident."