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Desperate commuters jumped the barriers at London Bridge last night amid rush hour "chaos" that saw police called to control crowds.

Pictures from the busy central London station, which has experienced overcrowding issues since large-scale redevelopment work began earlier this year, showed passengers climbing over the ticket gates - which were apparently shut to control crowds.

In some images, commuters could be seen on the floor trapped by the gate after seemingly falling over in their attempts to catch their trains.

Network Rail is responsible for the upgrade works currently taking place at London Bridge.

A Network Rail Twitter handle for the station tweeted: "Delays, alterations & cancellations to @SouthernRailUK services due to a person hit by train. Please check and consider alternatives."

Later they added: "Due to service disruption station is extremely busy and crowd control measures are in place. Please consider alternatives if possible."

Commuters took to Twitter to vent their frustration.

If you kettle 1000's of commuters through 2 small doors and lock down every single gate, this happens #londonbridge pic.twitter.com/Ouqrs15nVM — Blower's Son (@BlowersSon) March 3, 2015

Another meltdown at London Bridge pic.twitter.com/xpz8zA9xNX — Ian Brimacombe (@ibrim) March 3, 2015

London Bridge has reached peak chaos. pic.twitter.com/QEGPhPKX7L — Gabriella Griffith (@GabbyGriffith) March 3, 2015

British Transport Police were called to the station to help manage the growing crowds.

Disruption was caused by a person being hit by a train near Streatham in south London shortly before 5pm. The incident also led to delays and cancellations to services through London Victoria.

A Network Rail statement said: "We're sorry this incident has caused the disruption it has and we're working as hard as we can to recover the service and get as many people where they need to be tonight."

A spokesman for Southern Rail UK said: "Unfortunately, a series of incidents including a person being struck by a train have affected evening peak services from London.

"Delays of up to 60 minutes, cancellations and short notice alterations to services have been experienced by our passengers for which we apologise.

"Our main focus is on getting everyone home and we are working hard on that at the moment."

Additional reporting by PA