Ledbury stationmaster John Goldrick says he is offering hard facts in the debate over the state of railway services in the area, following a sit-in by disgruntled passengers at Malvern.

Mr Goldrick has obtained the running record for Central Trains services from Birmingham to Hereford for last week and says he plans to monitor the service in a similar way in future.

He said: "That was not a good week, I don't mind admitting it. Although, to put things in perspective, most trains to Ledbury run on time.

"No transport system is perfect and autumn is the most difficult time of the year because tracks are slippery.

"But we need balance and by obtaining these figures I'm trying to present a perspective, so people can make their own minds up."

Every week, Central Trains run 83 trains each way between Birmingham and Hereford.

For the week ending last Friday, nine were over ten minutes late arriving at Hereford, six were 20 minutes late and two were more than 30 minutes late. One train was cancelled.

Of the trains going back to Birmingham, one was cancelled, seven were more than ten minutes late, three were more than 20 minutes late and two were more than 30 minutes late.

The latest sit-on on a Central Trains service took place on Monday, November 24, when 20 passengers refused to get off at Great Malvern after the controller attempted to terminate their journey early. The train then continued to Ledbury and Hereford.

Central Trains spokesman Ged Burgess said trains could be suddenly terminated at Great Malvern "as a last resort" if a following train was close behind.Otherwise a train could be stuck at Hereford and be unable to return for scheduled services, because of the single-line track.