A train operator has been forced to terminate a service after discovering someone had taken a dump in one of its carriages – leaving their poo strewn across three seats.



The Tyne and Wear Metro, which serves Sunderland and Newcastle, apologised to customers online for the disruption.



The incident, which happened today, was revealed after one passenger complained on Twitter about delays and termination of a service on the line linking South Hylton and Airport stations.



The service terminated was between South Hylton and Airport Stations (Picture: PA)

The service was cancelled following concerns from train bosses (Picture: PA)

A Metro train at Sunderland train station (Picture: Rex Features)

In a now deleted tweet the operator replied: ‘Sorry, the train has been travelling up from Sunderland with only the rear car in operation as someone has defecated on the train and has covered 3 seats with faeces.


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‘The train has to go into the depot to be cleaned up. Sorry for the inconvenience.’



A spokesman for Nexus, the executive body that runs the Metro, told this website the service affected was an early afternoon train that was on its way to the airport.

He added in a statement: ‘I can confirm that a train was withdrawn from service due to a public hygiene issue in one of the carriages.

‘The train was immediately taken back to our depot to be cleaned.

‘Incidents like this are rare on the Tyne and Wear Metro but when they do occur the comfort and safety of our customers is our top priority.’

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