Someone let their dog foul on board a crowded train, but it's claimed the announcer was unsure if people would be bothered by it.
The grim incident happened on a Merseyrail service near Bootle on Tuesday afternoon, which a member of the public said was "seriously overcrowded".
But according to Dr Stuart Wilks-Heeg, who was on a different carriage at the time, the on-board announcer told passengers: “We are aware of reports of a dog fouling in the front carriage. If this bothers you, please get off the train at the following station and wait for the next service."
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Speaking to the ECHO, Dr Wilks-Heeg, a politics lecturer at the University of Liverpool , said they were told the Hunts Cross to Southport train would be "cleaned thoroughly" once it reached its final destination.
Dr Wilks-Heeg said he "doubted passengers would have been happy if the train had been delayed further or taken out of service to be cleaned".
According to Merseyrail, a cleaner attended "promptly" after the firm was made aware of the incident.
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Dr Wilks-Heeg said passengers were informed of what had happened at around 4.25pm.
He added: "I’ve never come across anything like this before.
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"Fortunately, I wasn’t in the carriage where the incident occurred, so the reaction around me was a mix of bemusement and amusement.
"I suspect the reaction was very different in the carriage where the incident occurred, especially for anyone who had the misfortune to step in it – which seems very likely given how crowded the train was and how hard it was for people to move along the carriages to find a space, get off the train."
On Wednesday, a Merseyrail spokeswoman said the firm was aware of what had happened on Tuesday afternoon.
She explained: "We were alerted to the incident, and a cleaner attended promptly to fully clean the affected area.
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“Passengers were advised of the option to disembark the train and await the next available service 15 minutes later while we arranged for a cleaner to attend.
"We are committed to keeping our trains clean and tidy and apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.”
