British Transport Police evacuated East Croydon train station in London on Monday evening due to a “suspicious package”.

The incident affected trains in and out of the station, and also at Gatwick and at Victoria. Large queues of people were seen at stations and many commuters were stuck on trains.

A British Transport Police spokesman said: “We're on scene at East Croydon station. Our specialist officers and investigating a suspect package. We'll update as soon as we can.”

Passengers on trains said announcements had informed them that services would not resume until at least 8pm.

The security alert affected Southern Rail, Thameslink and Gatwick Express services.