Ceiling collapses on commuter train in England

Commuters in England were given a shock when a ceiling collapsed in a train carriage.

The incident happened on a service operated by embattled rail company Southern between Purley Oaks and South Croydon, south London, at around 8.25am on Thursday.

Passengers were left shaken but avoided injury.

Kate Baxter, who was on board the train, posted photographs on social media which showed a large section of the ceiling on the floor of the carriage.

She wrote: "Southern Rail trains are literally falling apart, right on top of us! Thankfully no-one hurt, just shaken."

A Southern spokesman said: "Reports have been received of a ceiling panel dislodging in one of the carriages on the 7.45am Southern service from Tattenham Corner to Victoria.

"Southern staff at East Croydon station boarded the train to attend to passengers and it was reported at the time that there were no injuries. The cause of this incident is currently unknown and will be investigated fully.

"We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused."

It is the latest problem to hit Southern services in the UK, which have suffered delays and cancellations for months because of a dispute over changes to the role of conductors and staff shortages - blamed by the company on high levels of employee sickness.