Reports that terrified passengers were left stranded on the Scenic Railway at Dreamland today have been rejected as ''completely untrue' - with the ride not even open to the public yet.

A tweet this afternoon said passengers had been led to safety from the vintage ride at the Margate attraction after it broke down.

It was followed up by a local news organisation, which described scenes of 'chaos' as passengers suffered 'a virtual nightmare'.

The news came as a surprise as it had been well-publicised that the Scenic Railway has been out of action for a number of weeks.

It is undergoing testing before being reopened to the public after a new part was fitted. It is thought the original tweet may have been from somebody confusing a test run with a real ride.

A spokesman for Dreamland said the reports were 'totally untrue' and confirmed the Scenic Railway was not yet open to the public.

Writing on Facebook, Amy Kate - who was at the park today - said: "I've just realised I was queueing for the Enterprise when this happened.

"Where the Scenic stopped is where it has been parked the last few weeks. All the people on there are staff - no members of public.

"It didn't break down. They test ran it five times then stopped it there, in the exact spot it's been in whilst stationary for the past few weeks and staff came off. "

The Scenic Railway, which was built in the 1920s, is the park's star attraction and is expected to be back in action soon.