Thirty five people died and hundreds were injured after three trains carrying around 1,300 passengers crashed in Battersea on this day nearly 30 years ago.

Believed to be one of the worst incidents in the London Fire Brigade’s history, the commuter trains smashed into one another at Europe’s ‘busiest railway junction’.

London Fire Brigade commissioner Dany Cotton said: “I was 19 and just three months out of training school. We were on duty over Sunday night and were called to the scene on Monday morning.

"Our first job was getting casualties out of the trains and into the ambulances.

"It was just before Christmas and there were a lot of Christmas cards strewn everywhere. People must have been writing their cards on the train. It was an incredibly sad scene."

A crowded train hit the rear of another while it was stationary at Clapham Junction station in St John’s Hill.

The resulting impact of the stationary carriages shunted it to the right, which was then later hit by a third oncoming train.

The case of the case was determined to be wiring issues in the signals, meaning incorrect signals were given to one of the train drivers.

Because there were so many casualties, eight ambulances and surgical units were needed and passengers with the most severe injuries had to be operated on there and then.

Crews from Battersea, Clapham, Euston, Fulham, Norbury and Tooting responded to the call of the incident at 8.30am on December 12 in 1988 and the fire brigade deemed it a ‘rescue operation’ because of the size and weight of the trains.