Midhurst woman arrested over '˜railway trespass' in Chichester

A woman has been arrested after trespassing on the railway in Chichester yesterday evening, police said.

All trains were stopped between Chichester and Havant from around 5pm and the power supply to all lines was then cut.

A spokesman for British Transport Police said: “At approximately 4.30pm yesterday, (Tuesday, April 25) officers from BTP were called to a railway bridge on Cathedral Way in Chichester following reports of a woman in a precarious position.

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“A 25-year-old woman from Midhurst was safely removed from the bridge and was arrested on suspicion of malicious obstruction.

“She remains in police custody whilst enquiries continue.”

No trains were running on the line until after 9pm, causing significant disruption to passengers.

A spokesman for GTR, which operates Southern, said: “This was a necessary response to an emergency incident which caused our passengers considerable delay despite our best efforts.

“We apologise and encourage passengers to apply for compensation under our delay repay scheme at www.southernrailway.com/delayrepay.”

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Passengers were left stranded at a number of railway stations for several hours, with the only service a Great Western diesel train that ran from Barnham to Chichester.

Buses had to be ordered locally, though only a few were available, causing further disruptions to passengers.

At Chichester station, passengers were allowed to use their tickets on the 700 bus service, but only after 8pm ‘because of heavy loadings on those buses and congestion in the city’, GTR said.

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