A British commuter was thrown on to a railway line after she told two youths to stop smoking on a station platform on Wednesday.

The woman, whose identity is not known, suffered burns and a suspected broken collar bone and was taken to the hospital after the incident, at Farningham Road station in Kent during the rush hour shortly after 7a.m.

South Eastern train services between Kent and London were disrupted because the power had to be turned off.

The woman had asked the youths to stop smoking on the station platform, where smoking is banned, the train company said.

A scuffle started and she was thrown on to the track before fellow passengers dragged her off.

British Transport Police, who are studying CCTV footage of the incident and were said to be following up a number of leads, said the woman was lucky to be alive because the “live” rail was carrying 750 volts of electricity.

A South Eastern spokesman said: “We are appalled by this incident and hope the perpetrators are quickly identified.”

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