Rolling Stones London concert: Thousands of fans hit by travel meltdown at Richmond and Twickenham rail stations

Thousands of Rolling Stones fans were left stranded in south-west London last night after a busy station closed following the band's concert in Twickenham.

Furious fans of the legendary rockers described “chaos” as scores of people were turned away from Twickenham station on Tuesday night.

South Western Railway passengers who walked to Richmond station due to the closure of Twickenham were met by enormous crowds that spilled out into the street.

The rail firm apologised for the disruption caused by trains blocking lines at Clapham Junction and Vauxhall and a points failure at Waterloo and said entrance into the station was restricted to protect customer safety.

Many told how they fought to board buses and faced long waits for taxis, with others opting to walk for miles to get home after enjoying Mick Jagger’s band at the Whitton Road stadium.

One Stones fan tweeted: “Richmond station chaos as thousands of aged Rolling Stones fans arrive from Twickenham to find doors closed due to overcrowding and lack of services."

He also joked: “Fights for buses, taxis, horse and carts, balloons, coracles etc. I’m walking four miles home.”

And another said: “Some idiot decided to close Twickenham Station. Just been to see the Rolling Stones. Had to walk to Richmond station, then they tell you there’s no trains. Hilarious.”

Another outraged fan said: “Twickenham station after RS concert what a brilliant idea. 50,000 people walking for an hour to Richmond station. Even after that there were no trains. Ruined everyone’s night.”

It came after thousands of commuters faced similar scenes as they battled to get home from work when a broken down train sparked major delays and cancellations at Waterloo.

National Rail said a line was blocked by a broken down train at Clapham Junction, which caused disruption to routes from both busy transport hubs.

South Western Railway said: "We would like to apologise to passengers caught up in last night’s disruption.

"Due to a number of incidents services into and out of Waterloo were severely disrupted last night.

"First one of the lines through Clapham Junction was blocked by a train fault and then a damaged passenger assistance alarm caused another train to block the line at Vauxhall. A points failure at Waterloo further restricted platform access, compounding the delays.

These incidents resulted in crew and trains being severely displaced leading to knock on delays and disruption with some trains terminating short of their destinations and some cancellations.

"We alerted Twickenham stadium to issues we were having and asked them to direct concert goers to other transport modes where their tickets would be accepted.

"Entry on to both Twickenham and Richmond stations was controlled at certain times to keep passengers safe away from the platforms until trains were available."