A RAILWAY employee put out a fire on live tracks last night (December 23) against firefighters advice.

Fire crews were called at around 7pm to deal with the incident about 50 yards away from the platforms at Lewisham train station.

A Lewisham fire station spokesman said Network Rail did not want to turn off the electricity supply to the tracks.

This meant firefighters could not deal with the incident and advised against anyone else trying to put out the fire while the electricity was on.

But a railway worker put out the burning electrical cable and the railway sleeper.

Firefighters spent around 25 minutes at the scene.