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The body of a 47-year-old man was allegedly run over by up to 300 Piccadilly line trains after Tube workers mistook it for a fox.

It is believed the body of the man, from Maidstone, remained on the tracks in a tunnel between Holborn and Russell Square for around 14 hours before police identified it as human.

TfL said its thoughts were with the family of the man involved but that it was unable to comment further pending the conclusion of an inquest.

A service stopped in the tunnel around 11.30am on December 28 last year after a trip switch was activated, according to the Sun.

A manager went to investigate but believed he had spotted nothing but the remains of a fox on tracks, a source told the newspaper.

The source said the manager had advised controllers at Earl’s Court that the carcass was that of an animal.

“No foxes have been found killed or otherwise seen in the centre of the Piccadilly Line tunnels for over 15 years”, the source said.

But British Transport Police were called at 1.42am the next day and identified the body as human.

CCTV later revealed a person had been filmed entering the tunnel at Holborn, the Sun reported.

According to the newspaper some 26 trains an hour would have passed through the tunnel in the 14 hours after the initial service was stopped.

A BTP spokesman said: "We were called at 1.42am on December 29 to reports that a body had been found in the tunnel between Holborn and Russell Square stations.

"A 47-year-old man from Maidstone was declared dead at the scene.

"The death was not believed to be suspicious and so a file was prepared for the coroner."

A TfL spokesman told the Standard: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the man who was found in the tunnel between Holborn and Russell Square stations on December 29 2017.

“We are unable to comment further at this time pending the conclusion of the coroner’s inquest.”