An enterprising passenger refused to be defeated when the buffet car on a cross-country train ran out of food.

Deke Primo, 40, phoned ahead to an Indian restaurant in Peterborough and ordered a take-away to be delivered to the train when it stopped there.

Mr Primo and his 17-year-old daughter, Jodi, were travelling from Edinburgh to London King's Cross on the 1900 GMT GNER express.

Mr Primo, from Maida Vale, north-west London, was looking forward to a meal on the train but after queuing for more than 30 minutes at the buffet car, he said he was told by staff there was no more food left.

Chicken tikka

When the train reached York, Mr Primo decided to phone ahead to a take-away restaurant.

He called Talking Pages and got the number of the Al Fazal diner in Peterborough, where the train was due to stop.

As the train headed towards London, chefs at the restaurant made up the order of two portions of chicken tikka, pilau rice, nan bread and a side order of onion bhajis.

A delivery van was sent out to meet the train and when it drew into Peterborough station at 2313 GMT, the brown paper bag was handed over to the hungry passenger without a hitch.

Mr Primo said: "I had to tell the restaurant the exact time we were due to arrive in Peterborough, the platform number and that we were in coach H third from the front."

The meal came to �15 and Mr Primo handed over a �10 tip on top of that.

A spokesman from GNER denied that the train had run out of food.

"We were still selling food out of Newcastle.

"We have had flowers delivered to our trains and I have come across the occasional pizza but we have never had an Indian before."