An infestation of wasps on board a train triggered disruption on services into London today.
South West Trains services were hit by delays due to “wasps setting up home on board overnight”, the operator said.
An early morning commuter train scheduled to travel between Teddington and London Waterloo was removed from service after the insects were discovered on board the train.
Baffled passengers took to social media to complain they were affected by the delays, which saw the middle section of a train shut due to the swarm.
Others said they were told a wasps’ nest was found in an air vent inside a carriage.
Writer Gaile Bishop told the Standard an announcement was read out warning passengers about the insects as she boarded a train at Clapham Junction.
She said: “I got on the 08:08 from Clapham Junction towards Windsor. As part of their standard announcements, we were suddenly told "you will not be able to walk through the train - this is due to a wasps nest in one of the vents and we don't want anyone to get stung."
Other passengers also took to social media to say they had been affected by the bug invasion.
Another, tweeting under the name Josh, wrote: “Train cancelled this morning due to 'Wasps making the train their new home'. Certainly not heard that before! Oh well, down to Surbiton then.”
The young apprentice added: “The wasps must have flown in and made a nest inside the train before it could enter service this morning.”
A spokesperson for South West Trains said: “Unfortunately one service had to be cancelled this morning to enable a number of wasps to be removed from the train.
“The situation has been resolved, however, we're sorry for any inconvenience this caused.
“The train was returned to service shortly afterwards.”
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