Avanti passengers locked in Oxenholme station after late train

The Avanti West Coast service from London Euston to Glasgow arrived in Cumbria 100 minutes late (file photo)

Passengers were stranded in a locked station after their train arrived 100 minutes late, an MP has said.

About 30 passengers got off the Avanti West Coast service from London Euston to Glasgow at Oxenholme in Cumbria on Tuesday to find the station closed.

Passenger Jonathan Gilmore said it had been due in at 22:20 BST but was late. Westmorland Lib Dem MP Tim Farron said it was an "unacceptable farce".

Avanti has apologised and said it was investigating what happened.

Mr Gilmore, who had paid £80 for his ticket, told BBC Radio Cumbria passengers faced three options when they got off the train, which arrived at Oxenholme at about midnight.

They could scale the 8ft high gate, walk across the live tracks or "pick somewhere to try and sleep on a pavement until the morning".

He said there was no communication from Avanti and it was only when someone contacted Mr Farron that any help came, with a Network Rail worker opening the gate 45 minutes after the passengers arrived.

Oxenholme Station serves the south end of the Lake District

Mr Farron has demanded an investigation and said the incident was "just a further example of the failures by Avanti" which raised the question whether the firm was "fit and proper" to run the franchise.

"We have seen a mass of cancellations of Avanti services, failures in the reservation systems, and now a locked station," the MP said, adding: "There are clearly systematic failures going on at Avanti and we cannot let it go unchecked.

"What happened... could have very quickly become dangerous and I have already written to Avanti to demand an explanation for their oversight."

A spokesperson for Avanti West Coast said: "We're sorry to hear about the experience of the customers who were at Oxenholme station.

"We're currently looking into the circumstances of what happened.

"We'd like to thank the Network Rail team onsite for their swift action in getting our customers out the station safely."