POLICE shot a Taser at the man who closed Banbury Station today, it has been confirmed tonight.

The man is in a serious condition in hospital after he fell from the signal gantry he had scaled at the station this morning.

Police said the man was harming himself with a knife during the near five-hour incident as officers tried to negotiate with him to come down.

Thames Valley Police spokeswoman Michelle Nicols said a Taser stun gun was fired but it was not known tonight if this is what caused him to fall on to platform 1 just after 2pm.

Train services were cancelled for more than five hours and delays continued into the afternoon. However they were back running to schedule by the evening rush-hour.

The man climbed onto the gantry on platform 1 just after 9am.

Thames Valley Police spokeswoman Hannah Williams said: "A man was standing on a gantry at the railway station where he was harming himself with a knife. The man subsequently fell from the gantry and was detained.

"He was taken by ambulance to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where his condition is described as serious."

A South Central Ambulance Service spokesman said it was believed he had suffered a neck injury.

Both Thames Valley and British Transport Police have contacted the Independent Police Complaints Commission over the incident.

A witness said the man appeared to be covered in blood when he was on the gantry.

Sarah Jones, 22, was at the station this morning to try and catch a train to Oxford, and saw the man, believed to be in his 20s, on the gantry at platform 1.

She said: “At about 9.30am I saw a man sat on the pylon. Police were running through the station to try and talk him down.

“I don’t know what he’d done to himself but he was covered in blood.

“He’s wearing a yellow t-shirt and from the neckline to the bottom, right down the middle, was pure red. His hands were all red too.”

Police officers had been trying to negotiate with the man to come down safely.

Miss Jones, from Banbury, said: “He was shouting at police officers, kicking out at them and throwing things at them.

“He then started using his hands to pull the wires apart.”

Miss Jones said that staff and police had been trying to talk the man down and that all platforms were evacuated at about 10.15am.

She said: “We were told to go upstairs and stay away from the windows and things.

“There was a woman who said she was a mental health social worker who knew him. She’s with the police talking to him.”

The full-time mum said: “It was really scary, no one was expecting this. There were little kids around and things. It must have been terrifying for them.”

Buses replaced trains between Bicester North and Banbury and also between Oxford and Banbury.

The bridge in Bridge Street was closed.

As well as train cancellations, buses were affected.

Stagecoach Oxford has said that the 500 service was unable to serve Middleton Road during the incident. 

Banbury deputy police commander  Ch Insp Helen Roberts said: “I understand there was significant disruption to people on trains and to those planning to use the railway station which was essential while officers worked to resolve the situation.

“I would like to thank the public for their patience while the incident was ongoing.”

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