A PETWORTH man is seriously ill in hospital following an accident at Haslemere railway station on Friday.

The man, who is in his early 30s, is on a ventilator at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford following a fall on to the railway line.

The accident happened at about 9-45 pm when the man arrived at Haslemere station with a friend after catching the 8-50 pm train from Waterloo.

He is believed to have alighted from the train and fallen back against it as it was moving away from the station.

He was then spun on to the track.

A signalman saw the incident and called the emergency services straight away.

Fortunately, the man had not fallen on to the live rail.

The train was stopped and the power turned off immediately.

Two Haslemere fire crews attended the incident with police and Surrey ambulance and helped remove the man from the line.

A spokesman for the British Transport Police said the man was believed to have suffered a number of injuries including a collapsed lung and cracked ribs.

None of the injuries is thought to be life-threatening.

"He is on a ventilator and is likely to be in hospital for some weeks," the spokesman added.

Haslemere railway station staff were prompt in their actions and turned off the power as soon as the accident occurred, a spokesman for South West Trains said.

"The train remained on the platform for about an hour, causing some minor delays," she added.

The other platforms remained open as normal and at about 10-30 pm the power was switched back on and service was resumed.

The British Transport Police hope to speak to the man as soon as they are able to, but the incident is not being treated as suspicious.

p Commuters are to face more disruption as further train strikes planned for today (Friday), and Tuesday look set to go ahead.

Trains are expected to run once an hour from Haslemere to London Waterloo, though it is hoped more can be arranged for the proposed strike days to help ease delays.

South West Trains (SWT), has so far failed to resolve the issues that led to a breakdown in industrial relations, resulting in 38 per cent of Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) guards voting for strike action.

These issues include refusals by guards to wear red waistcoats, contention over compulsory name badges which might identify them to hostile customers, and a claim by the RMT that guards are not given enough opportunities to learn to become train drivers.

Many guards also feel a "managing for absence" policy, which requires a worker who has been absent from work to explain the reason why to a superior officer, is too strict.

Despite offering concessions on all the issues, SWT has so far been unable to reach any agreement with the RMT.

A much-reduced service will be running on Friday and Tuesday, with at least one train an hour travelling from Portsmouth to Southampton Central, Salisbury to Basingstoke and Southampton, Ascot, Basingstoke and Haslemere to London Waterloo.

A spokesman for SWT said: "We believe these strikes are unnecessary, and our greatest wish is to stop them as soon as possible so we can provide as good a service for our customers as they deserve."