A man who tried to avoid paying for a train ticket, and then had to take evasive action as the train's conductor arrived, had to be rescued, after falling from the vehicle, and becoming trapped between it and the station platform where it had come to a halt.
Ian Shuttlecock, of Winchester, boarded the train at the town's small railway station by stealth, entering via a field and over a fence, and without bothering to trouble the ticket machine.
As the train rattled along on its way to Oxford, Shuttlecock noticed its conductor approaching - checking and clipping passengers' tickets - and made for the exit, just as the next stop at Basingstoke loomed large.
A frantic 30-second wait ended when the vehicle's doors opened, and Shuttlecock burst out into the open air, slipping awkwardly as he did, ending up in the one place he wished he hadn't - in the Gap.
Much struggling and writhing was in vain, until other alighting passengers gave assistance, and Shuttlecock was freed from his trap. He grimaced, brushed himself down, and started to shuffle away, when, from behind him, came the conductor's voice:
"Tickets from Winchester, please!"
