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Passengers who stayed on a broken down train while others forced open the doors were later locked on board for more than three hours.

The First Capital Connect Service to Cambridge from King's Cross stopped outside Foxton, near Cambridge, shortly before 1700 BST on Friday.

About 15 people broke open the doors and walked along the track to the station, which was just 500m away.

The remaining passengers were locked on board by a rail official.

Bus journey

A passenger who stayed on the train said they were threatened with arrest if they left.

A rail official then locked the doors to ensure no-one else could get out, he added.

First Capital Connect spokesman Roger Perkins said the track leading to Foxton station was flooded in places and unsafe to walk down.

Instead two trains were brought alongside to evacuate passengers through the cab door, he said.

The first train took about 100 passengers the six miles back to Royston in Hertfordshire at about 1830 BST, and the second took another 274 people at about 1945 BST.

The last train returned to Royston at 2035 BST where 28 buses took the passengers back to Cambridge.

A spokesman for First Capital Connect said problems with overhead power cables had halted the train.

British Transport Police were called to the scene to deal with crowd management.