Passenger anger over train fire delay

The fire was caused by a mechanical fault

Passengers left stranded on a train outside Leicester for more than four hours on Tuesday evening say they are taking their complaints to Downing Street.

More than 150 people were stuck on the Midland Mainline 1732 GMT service from Nottingham to London when a small fire started in one of the engines.

Firefighters put out the flames within 15 minutes but had to spend a further three hours making sure the train was safe.

Passengers were kept waiting in the train at Wistow near Kibworth before being taken back to Leicester station at around 2230 GMT.

Further investigations are now underway

Although many passengers were then put on a fast train to London, others complained that little had been done to ease the situation.

One passenger, Geraint Hopkins, told the BBC he had collected an 80 signature petition calling for the resignation of the Transport Secretary, Stephen Byers.

He plans to present it to Downing Street on Wednesday.

Another passenger, Lorraine Davis, said: "I'm absolutely fuming.

"Not with the staff on the train, because they were wonderful and so were the passengers, but the attitude when we got off.

"We were told there's going to be somebody to help and there isn't."

Mechanical fault

Midland Mainline said it drafted in extra staff to make emergency travel and accommodation arrangements for passengers once they were returned to Leicester.

"The majority of the passengers were dealing with the situation, which was very uncomfortable and inconvenient for them, extremely well," said commercial director Malcolm Brown.

The company has now promised that all passengers will receive a written apology and compensation.

An investigation into the cause of the fire found a mechanical fault was to blame.