Man with machete Tasered at Tulse Hill train station detained under Mental Health Act

Picture taken with permission from the twitter feed of @Vikjas85 of police arrested a man Tulse Hill station, south London, on suspicion of

A machete-wielding man who was Tasered by police at a south London train station has been detained under the Mental Health Act.

The 59-year-old was initially arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and possession of an offensive weapon over the incident at Tulse Hill on Monday evening.

Police on Tuesday said the suspect, from Croydon, had been detained under Section 2 of the Mental Health Act after he was assessed by specialist medical staff.

Assistant Chief Constable Robin Smith, from the British Transport Police, said: "This would have been a particularly frightening incident for those passengers at the station or on board trains at Tulse Hill station.

"I am especially grateful to our Metropolitan Police colleagues who did a great job in detaining this man," he added.

The man was detained at Tulse Hill, in south London. Credit: PA

Police, who were called to the station just after 6.30pm, said there were no reported injuries.

Conor Fortune said he was on a Thameslink train travelling away from central London when he heard a male voice "shouting quite loudly" at the station.

The train conductor then told passengers not to get off because there was "a dangerous man on the platform", he said.

The 39-year-old, from south-west London, said: "After several minutes of being sat on the platform, the driver announced that we were being held and she shut the doors as a precaution and advised nobody to get off as there was 'a dangerous man on the platform'.

"She informed us the police had been alerted and were responding."

Ash New, who commutes into central London from Tulse Hill every day, said he arrived at the station on his way home after the man had been detained.

The 27-year-old, who lives a few minutes from the station, said he saw police officers with bags collecting evidence on the opposite platform.

He also saw a number of people who looked "a bit shaken" as they were being spoken to by police.

He said: "I think there was a lot of confusion. People were not really sure what was going on."