The entire Athens metro network was shut down briefly yesterday as security guards and police chased a suspected pickpocket down a tunnel under the heart of the capital.

The man somehow managed to dodge his pursuers and evade arrest, reaching ground level without being detected by the metro network's closed-circuit TV cameras.

It was the same surveillance system that caught the suspect trying to steal a passenger's purse on the platform at the central Panepistimio station around 1.50 p.m., drawing security guards to the scene. Facing arrest, the man jumped down among the electrified rails and ran off along the tunnel in the direction of the Syntagma Square station - where the two metro lines intersect.

Metro officials cut the electricity supply to the entire network, while guards and police gave chase. Line 2 started running again at 2.10, and Line 3 at 2.20 p.m.