NETWORK Rail has been accused of making endless “cock-ups” on the Clacton to London railway line.

Clacton MP Douglas Carswell claimed there were “appalling delays” to local rail services to the capital.

He has now written to the head of Network Rail, criticising the way the organisation is run, and asking who within the taxpayer backed organisation speaks up for customers.

Mr Carswell said: "Last Tuesday saw serious disruption to services between Frinton, Walton, Clacton and Liverpool Street.

“Only a few weeks before that, services were cancelled on a Monday morning because Network Rail could not get their act together.

"As a regular commuter between London and Clacton, I know how frustrating it is when the trains are disrupted."

"People are willing to be patient when there are accidents, but not when there are serial cock-ups and no explanation of what went wrong."

A spokesman for Network Rail said Jamie Burles, managing director at Abellio Greater Anglia, and Richard Schofield, managing director of Network Rail Anglia, had jointly written to Mr Carswell to apologise.

They said: “We're extremely sorry for the disruption that has affected services on a number of days.

“We recognise that the delays suffered by many passengers have been both inconvenient and very frustrating.

“We also understand that in some cases the situation was exacerbated by a lack of timely, accurate or consistent information about what was happening."

They vowed to put an enhanced maintenance regime in place for overhead lines and on signalling on the approaches to London Liverpool Street station