Rail terror check after man found on track

Police were carrying out a security check on a railway tunnel today after they used anti-terrorist powers to arrest a man walking on the line.

A spokeswoman for Kent Police said officers closed off a section of track near Dover this morning after reports that a man was walking on the rails.

The man was arrested later under the Terrorism Act and is currently being questioned, she added.

The line forms the main domestic route for trains running from Dover to Folkestone and travels through a tunnel under the area's chalk cliffs.

Although the line is close to the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, a spokeswoman for Eurotunnel said its track had not been affected.

A spokeswoman for South Eastern Trains - which runs services from London to the Kent Coast - said passengers could face considerable disruption this evening.

"The latest information that we have is that the line will be shut until 6pm this evening. We have got buses running between Folkestone and Dover at the moment.

"From 4pm there will be quite a lot of disruption and delays for commuters coming out of London if it remains shut until 6."

The incident was between Folkestone Central and Dover Priory stations.
From just after midday, South Eastern Trains' services between Ashford International station and Dover Priory were being replaced by buses.

Eurostar trains through the Channel Tunnel to Paris and Brussels were running normally.