GREENWICH'S cable car system broke down today, leaving passengers hanging over the river in baking heat.

The breakdown, which Transport for London (TfL) have blamed on a technical fault, occurred at around 11.45am this morning.

One passenger, Alistair Owens, tweeted: "London Emirates cable car has broken down and we're dangling mid air over the docks -- seem to be evacuating..."

Once safely back ashore he wrote the ride had turned out to be a "great school holiday mini adventure".

But another twitter user wrote that passengers coming off looked 'shattered' and there was speculation that the system had been affected by the high temperatures.

A spokesman for TfL said: "All passengers were safely back on the terminal by 12.18pm and water and first aid were made available to them.

"We would like to apologise to anyone affected."