Bicycle on the tracks at West Worthing brings trains to a stand

Southern Railway said trains towards Hove could not run as the power had to be switched off while the incident was dealt with.

Network Rail arrived at the scene at 5pm to remove the bicycle.

At 5.30pm, Southern Rail said the tracks had been damaged which meant engineers had to make repairs before trains could start running again. Repair works were due to start at 5.45pm.

Trains were stopped while the incident was dealt with, Southern said, but resumed again at 5.30pm once the bicycle had been moved off the tracks.

Southern advised passengers to allow extra time to complete their journeys.

Network Rail said delays were expected until 6pm.