Shenfield rail station has reopened after being closed following reports of a “shooting” in the car park at around 6am today.

A man in his 40s was taken to Basildon Hospital with leg injuries, a British Transport Police (BTP) spokesman said, but did confirm whether the victim had suffered gunshot wounds.

“The incident was reported to BTP at 5.51am.

“On arrival, officers located a man in his forties with injuries to his leg. The man was taken by ambulance to hospital. His injuries are currently not believed to be life-threatening.

“Enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances, including how the man came to be injured.”

Greater Anglia posted this tweet at around 6.30am: “#Shenfield - due to emergency services dealing with an incident, Mainline (fast) trains won’t be calling at Shenfield til further notice.”

The train provider updated followers just over an hour later to say the trains were calling at the station again, although the car park remained closed.

Rumours of the shooting began circulating on Twitter soon after the police cordon went up.

Dean Masterson ‏wrote: “Imagine calling your work and saying ‘can’t come in today boss, got shot on my way in’ #shenfield #shooting”.

Mikey Woolnough write: ”Did someone actually get blasted at shenfield station?!? It’s Friday everyone should be happy.” ?

Anyone with any information which they believe could assist the investigation is asked to contact BTP on 0800 40 50 40, quoting incident reference 48 of 24/01/14.

Did you see what happened? Do you know the injured man? Contact Jane on 020 8477 3878 or email jane.ball@archant.co.uk