Rail passengers travelling to London from Bedfordshire faced major delays after a signal cable failed early on Tuesday morning.

The problem brought morning trains travelling on Thameslink and Midland Mainline routes to a halt, affecting travel in both directions.

The fault occurred on the tracks between Flitwick, in Bedfordshire, and Bedford.

A Thameslink spokesman said: "This is one of the worst mornings we've had. We have laid on buses, but there is not enough room on them to cope with all the passengers.

Shuttle buses

A spokeswoman for Midland Mainline said: "All our services are either starting, or terminating, at Bedford.

"We are trying to get hold of as many coaches as possible to help passengers."

A shuttle bus service was operating between Wellingborough and Northampton, while other passengers were taken to Luton to travel on to St Pancras in London.

Train companies The Silverlink, Virgin, East Coast main line operator GNER and Central Trains have all offered to accept tickets from stranded passengers.

The Thameslink spokesman said their northbound services from Brighton were running reasonably normally but were terminating at Luton.