Travellers on a London-bound South Central train were amazed to hear an announcement that the train was behind schedule because of "boarding flow" problems.

One passenger, Simon Peyton, who got on at East Croydon station in south London, said: "It was appalling. We heard that the train was running late because passengers were boarding too slowly."

The train had been delayed by the late running of another service at Three Bridges station in Sussex.

'Inappropriate' words

Mr Peyton added: "That's why there were so many people trying to get on at East Croydon - there were twice as many people as normal trying to get on."

A spokesman for South Central said: "There is no company policy to blame passengers for delays and we will be speaking to the member of staff who made the announcement.

"He used words that were not appropriate."

Commuters have also been told that fares on all but two of Britain's rail companies will rise in the new year.

From 5 January, some tickets will rise by more than twice the rate of inflation.