Passengers who boarded a late night train as snow fell across south London were left locked in a station after staff shut the gates early and went home.

About 30 disgruntled commuters at Streatham Hill station, including a woman with small children and another passenger suffering from a slipped disc, were forced to clamber through a window to make their escape.

The accidental lock in, which happened at about 1.30am on Sunday morning, has been widely discussed online after one commuter took a photo of the chaos and posted it on Twitter.

Tom Neenan, of Leigham Avenue, Streatham, who boarded the train at Clapham Junction, said it was “lucky” the window had opened relatively easily.

He said: “There were a few delays because of the snowfall which is to be expected.

“We arrived at Streatham Hill and it was closed up as if they were not expecting any more commuters.

“The fire escape door was open but the gates were shut. So somebody managed to shimmy open the window.

“Luckily the window opened fairly easily. But it was quite annoying really. What you expect from a rail network is that you shouldn’t have to push open a window to get out.”

A spokesman for Southern trains said they were investigating the mix up, which occurred after agency staff mistakenly closed the station before the last train had departed.

He apologised to passengers for both the delays and the closure.

He said: “Due to the severe weather conditions during Saturday night, the last scheduled services to Streatham Hill were delayed by up to 60 minutes.

“We staff our London stations from the first to the last service and on this occasion it appears the agency staff member went off duty before the last train departed from the station.

“We are investigating with the both the agency that provided the staff member why their employee did not follow the correct procedure for closing down the station.”