A suspected burglar perched in a tree overhanging a railway line caused 17 hours of travel misery¹ for commuters.

一盗贼因被警察追捕爬上铁轨上方的大树，赖在上面17个小时，导致这段时间内运行的列车改道或延误，引发众怒。

The strong-willed fugitive² climbed the tree near Charlton station in south-east London in the early hours of yesterday, and refused to come down throughout the morning rush hour.

这名固执的盗窃嫌疑犯是在8月13日凌晨时分爬上伦敦东南部查尔顿车站附近的这棵树上的，之后无论怎样劝说他都拒绝下来，而当时正好是早上交通高峰期。

He had been chased by police after an alleged³ attempted burglary at a nearby retail⁴ park shortly before 2am, in a pursuit involving the Metropolitan⁵ Police helicopter.

当日凌晨2点钟左右，这名盗贼企图在一个商业区内行窃，随后警察对其展开追捕，参与追捕的还包括一架城都市警用直升机。

Delays caused by the incident sparked fury among passengers with a number of London-bound trains diverted or delayed.

伦敦周边多辆列车因此改道或延误，这激起了大量滞留乘客的怒火

British Transport Police (BTP) sent specialist officers to try to persuade him to come down from the tree near Barney Close, but rail operator Southeastern was forced to close the track during the morning peak.

英国交通警察派出专家试图说服这个盗贼从树上下来，但是未果，东南向的铁路运营商只能被迫在早高峰期间关闭了铁路。

Chief Inspector⁶ Jenny Gilmer said: 'Shortly after 7pm on Wednesday 13 August, a man was talked down from a tree near to the rail line at Charlton.

“直到13日晚上7点多，这个盗贼才听从劝说，从树上爬了下来。”警察总督杰尼·基尔姆说。

'The man had been in the tree since the early hours of the morning and his return to the ground marked the end of a difficult and lengthy⁷ operation involving British Transport Police, Met Police, London Fire and Rescue, Network Rail and Southeastern Trains.

“他从凌晨的时候就爬到了树上，在他双脚终于落地后，意味着这次由英国交通警察，都市警察，伦敦消防署，铁路网和东南火车公司共同参与的艰难而漫长的行动划上了句号。”

'The 32-year-old man was subsequently arrested on suspicion of burglary and obstruction⁸ of trains with intent and he remains⁹ in police custody¹⁰.

“这名32岁的男子随后因盗窃嫌疑以及蓄意阻碍交通被捕，目前被拘留在警局内。”

'I'd like to thank all those who have worked tirelessly throughout the day to bring this operation to a safe conclusion and would also like to thank the local community and travelling public for their continuing patience and understanding during what was an extremely sensitive process.'

“我要感谢参与这次行动的所有工作人员，他们不辞辛苦地、安全地解决了问题。还要感谢当地社区和乘客，感谢他们对这次敏感事件整个过程的理解和宽容。”

Southeastern said that the tree overhangs the London-bound track and so it was not safe to run services while the man refused to come down - although trains out of London were able to run normally after an initial closure.

东南火车公司说这棵树的树枝悬垂在伦敦圈铁轨上方，由于这名男子执意不下来，所以给列车运行造成很大的安全隐患，但在铁路关闭前已经驶离伦敦的列车仍可正常行驶。

London-bound services were diverted or delayed, and tickets were accepted on the Underground and buses.

伦敦周边的列车或改道或延误，乘客可在地铁或巴士站附近退换票。

But the delays angered passengers, many of whom took to Twitter to vent¹¹ their frustration¹².

火车延误让乘客们非常生气，许多人在推特上表达了自己的不满。

Adam Martin-Lawrence wrote: 'How many people does it take to drag a burglar out of a tree at Charlton - apparently¹³ many, but none of them can lay a finger on the guy.'

一位名叫亚当·马丁·劳伦斯的乘客写道：“把一个盗贼从树上拽下来能需要多少人？也许确实要不少人，但却没有一个人伸出手指去碰碰那个家伙。”

Another Twitter user, Jess Williams, posted: 'So just found out the reason my train was cancelled this morning was because a man running from the police was hiding up a tree at Charlton.

另一位名叫杰斯·威廉姆斯的推特用户写道：“终于知道早上我所坐的列车被取消的原因了，一个盗贼被警察追到树上了。”

A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police said: 'Police were called to reports of an attempted burglary at a commercial unit on the Stone Lake Retail Park, SE7, at 1.50am on August 13.

都市警察的一名发言人说：“8月13日凌晨1点50分，我们接到报警称在伦敦东南区石湖商业圈里有盗贼试图进行偷窃。”

'On arrival, officers identified a suspect and began a pursuit which also involved the Metropolitan Police's Air Support Unit, during which the man was observed running close to rail lines.

“警方到达现场后立刻确认了一名嫌犯，随即展开追铺，并得到都市警察空中服务中心的配合，发现嫌犯向火车站方向逃跑。”

'The suspect subsequently climbed a tree next to the rail lines off Barney Close.'

“之后嫌犯就爬到了这颗查尔顿车站铁轨附近的树上了。”