Facing the sack for saving a life

The platform worker jumped to save a woman from the tracks at a station near Essex in the UK.

A RAILWAY worker who leapt to save a disabled elderly woman after she fell onto the tracks has been suspended from work while an investigation takes place.

The incident happened on August 28 in Essex when the platform worker jumped down to save the woman from the nearest train - which was about 400 metres away at the time.

But instead of being praised for the heroic deed he was suspended pending an investigation.

"We have strict rules regarding the safety procedure for the quickest way of stopping trains in an emergency," a c2c spokesmand told the BBC.

"An employee has been suspended while our investigation into this incident continues."

National Transport workers union president Bob Crowe said the decision was "diabolical".

"What did they expect him to do - just stand by and watch?" he said.

"All this person did was what anyone with any common sense would have done."

Commuters flooded the c2c Facebook page to protest the decision, calling it "scandalous" in a very British show of outrage.