Rail services between Shoebury and London's Fenchurch Street station started up again at 2.40pm yesterday after a pigeon caused chaos.

Long-suffering commuters were subjected to hours of problems after a pigeon nesting near overhead cables in the Shoebury area electrocuted itself on the 25,000-volt lines.

The incident shorted out the power supply to trains on the c2c line. A spokesman for the railway company said the power failure left trains in the depot at Shoebury unable to get on to the tracks.

Temporary bus services were laid on for passengers, who faced long delays on their journeys into the capital. Services were back to normal today, with no reported delays or pigeon problems.

Published Thursday May 27, 2004

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