Rail passengers in the North West and North Wales are coping with the second day of a strike which has halted all weekend First North Western trains.

Passengers were urged to be "understanding" and to find alternative methods of transport during the stoppage by train drivers.

Up to 220 buses were providing a replacement service during the strike, which is part of a long-running pay dispute.

The strike began at midnight on Friday and is due to last until midnight on Sunday.

First North Western (FNW) said it would not be running any services throughout the weekend.

We want parity with the rest of the rail industry on pay and conditions

Colin Smith, Aslef

A spokesman for the company said it had cancelled about 1,500 trains on Saturday, hitting an estimated 100,000 customers.

A further 30,000 passengers were being hit on Sunday, with the cancellation of an estimated 500 trains.

More strikes are planned for every weekend until 24 November.

The drivers, who are members of the Aslef union, have also voted against rest-day working, which could mean 160 trains on weekdays will have to be cancelled.

Vernon Barker, FNW's managing director, said the company was doing its "utmost" to minimise the disruption.

"However, passengers will understand that buses simply do not have the same capacity as trains," he said.

'Contentious issues'

On Friday the company urged Aslef to ballot its members over its pay offer - a 19% increase over three years - or agree to negotiations with Acas, the arbitration service.

However, Aslef insisted there were "unacceptable strings" attached to the offer, one of which involved drivers picking up litter at stations.

The union's Colin Smith said: "The main contentious issues are still there.

"We want parity with the rest of the rail industry on pay, and the conditions of the proposed six-month notice to leave employment are still unacceptable."

He said previous arbitration attempts had failed to result in meaningful negotiations.