A man was killed when he was hit by a high-speed train near East Worthing

station last night.

Hundreds of passengers faced more than two hours of disruption as trains were cancelled, delayed and diverted while emergency crews were at the scene.

The identity of the man, a 35-year-old from Worthing, is not being released until relatives have been informed.

Witnesses told British Transport Police the man had been standing on the westbound platform before walking 100 yards along the track towards Worthing.

He then appeared to step in front of a Connex South Central train just after 5.40pm.

The train involved was the 4.17pm from Victoria to Bournemouth.

Coastal services between Victoria, Brighton, Worthing, Portsmouth and Bournemouth were disrupted during the incident.

Connex South Central spokesman David Ewart said:

"Power was immediately switched off so the emergency services could work at the scene and was not fully restored until 7.15pm.

"Obviously, services were badly affected and we apologise for this but these were clearly unavoidable circumstances.

"The train driver has been relieved of his duties to recover and has been offered counselling to help him get over the ordeal."