Emergency services rushed to a railway station in Essex, only to find out reports of a person being hit by a train was a hoax.

Officers from the British Transport Police, Braintree Police and paramedics from East England Ambulance Service were called to the station following a 999 call made around midday yesterday stating someone had been hit by a train.

After arriving at the scene, the teams were surprised to see no one had been hit and eventually found out the incident was a hoax.

It is believed the phone call had been made from a telephone box near to the station as there was no identifiable phone number.

Despite no obvious signs of a culprit, British Transport Police’s Essex team has tweeted to say a suspect has been identified on CCTV.

The tweet read: “Our officers have identified the source of the call and will be investigating the malicious nature of the incident.”

British Transport Police was contacted for comment.