An extra commuter was on board the 10.03am from Brighton to Lancing - and he didn't have a ticket.

The passenger sitting comfortably in the guard's van was not a stowaway or fare-dodger but a sorry seagull on a mercy dash to get treatment for a broken wing.

Staff at Brighton station had found the baby bird lying injured with a broken wing on a platform on Tuesday but were not sure what to do.

Station cleaner Dave Matthews made a few phone calls and soon had an offer of help from experienced bird rescuer Sylvia Peters. The only problem was she was in Lancing.

But working at a station has its perks and the seagull was tucked into a box just in time to catch the 10.03am service.

Mr Matthews said: "It was only a baby and looked like it had been kicked. We thought one extra passenger wouldn't hurt."