A PARCHED rail passenger enduring a trip to Brighton on the hottest day of the year was refused a bottle of water because it was “reserved for first class”.

Desmond Nichols was told by a man pushing the customary drinks trolley that the last remaining bottles of the good stuff were not for passengers holding standard tickets.

To make matters worse, the air conditioning on Wednesday’s 16.36 Southern service from Victoria to Brighton had broken down while Britain basked in record temperatures.

Mr Nichols, who used to live in Sussex but now resides in Florida, said: “The heat was suffocating.

“I handed out sections of my newspaper to use as fans to the perspiring passengers sitting and staring around me.

“At about the Three Bridges point the drinks trolley reached us, having done its run through the whole train.

“The man opposite me asked for a bottle and was given one.

“I then asked for one, but was told, ‘Sorry, that was the last one’.

“I looked down on the three shelves of drinks on his trolley and there, on the bottom layer, were two bottles of water.

“‘There’s one’, I said. ‘May I have one of those?’

“The young man said, ‘Sorry, I can’t sell you that. It is reserved for first class passengers only’. I could not believe what I was hearing. Nor could the overheated passengers around me.”

The train was also ten minutes late.

“I am so pleased I don’t commute any more. Nothing changes,” he added.

Southern apologised to Mr Nichols and said “common sense should have prevailed”.

A spokesman said: “We are investigating the issue and are taking this up with our trolley service providers. In the meantime, we would like to apologise to Mr Nichols.

“Whilst a small amount of water is usually kept aside for our First Class passengers, in yesterday’s hot conditions, common sense should have prevailed and Mr Nichols should have had the opportunity to buy one of the bottles.

“We are ensuring that our trolley service providers are re-briefed.”