Southern rail work experience boy charms Twitter

Southern rail commuters are enjoying a rare moment of goodwill towards the beleaguered train operator, thanks to a 15-year-old work experience boy named Eddie.

Given that their tweets are frequently the bearers of bad news - delays, cancellations, strikes - it's no surprise that Southern's social media team are not usually the recipients of a lot of warmth, as exemplified by the popular hashtag #SouthernFail.

That all changed on Tuesday afternoon, when 15-year-old Eddie announced that he had been handed control of Southern's Twitter account as part of a work experience placement.

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Given the usual tide of abuse directed at Southern's Twitter, some feared for the youngster's innocence - but Eddie remained optimistic:

Rightly so, it turned out, as commuters saved their vitriol for another time and duly fired off their questions for Eddie. As you might have predicted, almost none of them related to Southern or even railways in general.

However, Eddie proved to be exceptionally game when it came to answering even the weirdest queries.

Like any good customer service employee, he went out of his way to provide helpful information and advice on topics that went far beyond his day job.

He was also not short of witty one-liner:

Unsurprisingly, within hours, Eddie had developed his own fanbase:

By this morning, Southern had been showered with dozens of tweets clamouring for the lad's return - and Eddie's fans are in luck, as the operator has promised he will be back at the helm at lunchtime.