Long rail delays and cancellations between Manchester and London after person hit by train

There are long delays and cancellations on the railway line between Manchester and London this Bank Holiday Monday after a person was hit by a train. Services are being delayed by up to two hours, with many others cancelled following the incident near Milton Keynes.

A statement on the website of train operator Avanti West Coast says: "Due to a person being hit by a train between Milton Keynes Central and Watford Junction all lines are blocked. Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 120 minutes.

Read more:Why have Manchester to London rail services been cut to the bone?

"Disruption is expected until 10am."

It adds: "Transpennine Express are conveying passengers between Leeds and Manchester Piccadilly in both directions until further notice. East Midlands Railway are conveying passengers between Sheffield and Manchester Piccadilly in both directions until further notice."

The disruption comes after Avanti slashed services between Manchester and London from three to just one per hour. It also delayed releasing tickets or a full timetable for the August Bank Holiday weekend due to a 'fault in the industry system' which uploads tickets to the website to be sold.

Just one third of its usual services were running along the London to Manchester route - while tickets for Sunday and Monday were only being made available on August 26.

Speaking on Friday Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said: "Even today, tickets for travel on Bank Holiday Monday have not been released. People pay sky-high prices to travel on Avanti West Coast trains and I made it crystal clear to the company when I met them yesterday that none of the above is good enough."

The company apologised for the problems,