Southern Railway has suspended three members of staff after one of them was filmed pouring soapy water on the ground outside a station, where a man was lying on the pavement.
The incident apparently took place at the weekend outside Sutton station in South West London. It was filmed by a member of the public and the video put online.
In the video, one member of Southern staff can clearly be seen pouring water from a bucket on the pavement on both sides of the man on the ground, so that the water ran onto the man. Another member of staff stood and watched.
A woman, apparently the person filming the incident, can be heard criticising the Southern employee’s actions and responding to what appears to be questioning from the other employee as to why she is filming the incident.
Angie Doll, passenger services director for Southern Railway, said: ‘We take this incident extremely seriously and have started an investigation. We suspended the two members of staff seen in the video and a third colleague who we identified from station CCTV.
‘We would like to apologise to the homeless man and we are trying to make contact with him to offer help and support.’
Communities secretary James Brokenshire, whose brief covers homelessness, said he was writing to Southern ‘to ensure this distressing incident is dealt with swiftly and effectively’.
British Transport Police said they were aware of a video posted on social media showing an incident at Sutton station, adding: ‘Officers are currently investigating the incident as a common assault and would ask anyone who witnessed what happened, or the events leading up to it, to contact them by texting 61016 or calling 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 489 of 24/02/19.'
The incident overshadowed the expansion of London's Oyster scheme and contactless payment to Southern's nearby Epsom station.
The company told Transport Network that the move is a special extension and is not priced according to Transport for London's zones.
A spokesperson said: 'We have worked with the Department for Transport, Transport for London and South Western [Railway] to realise this requirement in our franchise agreement.'
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