TRAVELLERS at railway stations between Worcester and Hereford were left angry and frustrated after a broken-down train caused severe disruption on Tuesday morning.

The London-bound High Speed Train, operated by First Great Western and dubbed the Cathedrals Express, broke down at Ledbury shortly before 7am, blocking the line.

The breakdown caused the cancellation of a number of London Midland services in both directions until the train was fixed and resumed its journey shortly before 9am.

At Great Malvern and Malvern Link, scores of passengers, including some heading for London, waited for services to be restored. The London-bound passengers were being advised to take the next service to Birmingham New Street and change there for services to Euston.

Passengers at Hereford intending to go to Birmingham were allowed to travel there vis Shrewsbury.

In all, about a dozen services in both directions had to be cancelled while the High Speed Train was being repaired. London Midland reported at 11.35am that all services had resumed running normally.Delays lasted until mid-morning.

Francis Thomas, head of corporate affairs at London Midland, which runs most of the services on the line, said: "The broken-down train prevented a number of services from Hereford from getting through, and in the other direction, we stopped the trains at Worcester.

"We prefer to stop the trains at larger stations where there is more room and more facilities for the passengers, and it;s also easier to turn the trains around at Worcester.

"We organised coach services from Worcester to Hereford and vice-versa, calling in at the connecting stations, but it takes a while to get the coaches in place, and the road journey inevitably takes longer."

Mr Thomas said that travellers who experienced delay should use the Delay Repay service to apply for compensation, by calling in at ticket offices or visiting the train companies' websites.

James Davis of First Great Western confirmed that the train failed at 6.59am and that the problem was fixed by 8.47am, and no other First Great Western services were affected.