RAIL services were suspended yesterday evening when a man fell off the platform at Liverpool Central station.

The busy station was temporarily closed and emergency services rushed to the scene after the incident, which occurred on the Northern Line platform at the height of yesterday’s evening rush hour.

Rudi Boersma, spokesman for Merseyrail, said: “The man missed his footing while getting on the train, and fell between the train and the platform.

“Immediately all the power was switched off because of the electrics, so trains stopped running through necessity.

“The man was retrieved by emergency services and taken to hospital with head injuries.”

The incident happened at 6.15pm, and services were running again by 6.45pm.

Mr Boersma added: “When the power gets switched off at Liverpool Central, it does not just affect the Northern Line, but the Wirral Line as well.

“The whole system came to a standstill for 30 minutes.”

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service sent three appliances and a special rescue team to the scene, but the man had already been rescued by the time they arrived.

A spokeswoman for the North West Ambulance Service said the man had been “very lucky.”

She said: “He was easily brought out and we did not require any specialist team.”

The man, whose age is not known, was taken to the Royal Liverpool Hospital with minor injuries.