A pensioner who got trapped between a train and the platform after falling at East Croydon has demanded safety improvements at the station.

Louisa Spivack, 68, feared she “could have died” when she plunged from the carriage and became stuck after getting off the service from London Victoria with her husband on the way to visit their son.

The “seasoned traveller” was taken to hospital bruising and a dislocated finger and believes she was saved from further harm from her thick coat.

Mrs Spivack, of Haringey, said a curve in East Croydon’s platform 2 left an usually large gap, putting passengers at risk. She urged Southern, which runs the station, to make urgent upgrades to the platforms.

The pensioner said: "I was shocked, I couldn't believe it. I didn't panic fortunately, because help came very quickly.

"I had a thick coat on which might have stopped me going further, but I don't like to think about what could have happened."

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Mrs Spivack was left with bruising after falling through the gap between the train and the platform

She added: “I want those platforms brought up to date to cope with a modern train. If it happened to me it could happen to anyone - next time someone might fall further.

"They [Southern] have spent a lot of money updating the walkways, but they haven't done anything to deal with the longer trains.

"The platforms are not able to cope with them."

After being rescued within minutes by station staff, a "shaken up" Mrs Spivack took a cab to Croydon University Hospital to receive "very good" treatment for bruising and a dislocated finger.

But she was forced to travel to A&E alone, because her diabetic husband Richard, 69, still needed to meet the couple's autistic son, who was travelling from Haywards's Heath with his carer and gets upset by disrupted routine.

To add insult to injury, the Mrs Spivack claimed she wrote to Southern on the day of the accident to demand an response to her safety concerns - but had yet to receive a response as of Friday afternoon.

She said: "It's disgraceful. They seem to be more concerned with paying shareholders than making sure the public are safe.

"I feel that Southern railway are at fault here. It won't be long before there is a fatality."

A spokesman for Southern said the company had now contacted Mrs Spivack and was "sorry to hear of [her] experience".

He added: "The incident is currently being investigated by our safety department. We are in touch with Ms Spivack and will continue to do so until the matter is resolved.

"In the meantime, Network Rail is carrying out a programme of work on platforms 1 and 2 at the station which will raise the platform surfaces, making the gap between the train and the platform smaller."

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