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Monday 9 Apr 2018

Documentary continues as London Paddington station staff apprehend an intruder on the station roof nicknamed ‘Spiderman’

Region & Route:

Wales & Western: Western

| Wales & Western

The second series of the behind the scenes documentary, Paddington Station 24/7 continues on Monday 9 April, as staff and members of the British Transport Police race to find a trespasser seen crossing the huge and iconic station roof.

The eight-part first series achieved a consistently high audience share for the Monday 9pm slot, averaging 1.3 million viewers per episode. Series two is already proving to be a big hit, with 1.75 million people tuning in to watch the second episode on Monday 2 April. The series follows railway workers on the Great Western Mainline as they deal with the biggest modernisation of the line for generations, major incidents which are causing disruption on the railway, huge sporting events, as well as the day-to-day challenge of running one of Britain’s busiest stations.

This week, Shift Station Manager, Simon Butler, receives a call from a Network Rail colleague to advise him that an intruder has been witnessed climbing onto Paddington station’s vast glass roof. Officers from British Transport Police are swiftly on the scene to assist, as CCTV reveals the trespasser to be wearing a back pack with unknown content – a cause for concern. Through collaboration between Network Rail and the British Transport Police, the matter was brought to a swift conclusion with the help of London Paddington’s CCTV system.

Simon Butler, Network Rail’s Shift Station Manager at Paddington Station, said:

 “On that day, I received a call from the security team saying that someone had been seen on the roof in the vicinity of Tournament House and Praed Street.  I informed my staff and made my way over to where the report had come from, where we were able to speak to the person who made the initial report.  Luckily they had also managed to take a picture of the person, which provided us with a description of the male trespasser.

“The roof covers a vast area and we didn’t know where the intruder was, which was a challenge. Access to the roof is strictly controlled, and the area where the person had been sighted was still under the control of contractors undertaking refurbishment work, which made it even harder for us to gain access.

“Although the intruder wasn’t caught at that time, having British Transport Police on site with a good knowledge of the station is always reassuring.

“After extensive trawling of CCTV footage we identified the spot where the trespasser had gained access, and had extra staff in the area for several days afterwards but nothing was seen. However some three days later BTP officer Al Gore was on duty at Paddington when he spotted the intruder walking down the platform. He was subsequently arrested and charged so it was a job well done by all.”

Simon Butler, Shift Station Manager, Network Rail

The third episode of Paddington Station 24/7 will be aired on Monday 9 April on Channel 5 at 9pm, with each subsequent episode shown on Monday evenings at the same time.