Stranded

South West Train chiefs said they were "embarrassed" after a replacement bus service also broke down and their own staff abandoned the group and climbed into a taxi.

The residents were forced to wait alone for another taxi to collect them - but were left with a £180 bill to get them back to the south coast four and a half hours later.

The passengers, including Southampton businessman Adrian Yalland, pictured right, had been travelling on the 12.55am from London Waterloo.

Engineering works at Woking forced the train to stop, where the ten passengers - including three South West Trains staff - transferred to a waiting bus.

However their journey took a turn for the worst when around 1.30am the bus broke down on a roundabout in the city centre.

Mr Yalland, who runs his own travel company in London, said: "Calls were made to South West Trains, and their staff organised for a taxi to pick them up.

"After 15 minutes of waiting, the taxi arrived, and they told us a taxi would come and pick us up shortly."

Snow had started to fall - and with no heater in the bus, temperatures inside had reached freezing point.

Cold and miserable, the passengers waited for their taxi to arrive - but it never came.

It soon became clear they had been abandoned.

Mr Yalland said: "Sitting in the bus at Woking was absolutely miserable. There was no heating in the bus so we were freezing cold - it was even snowing outside.

"One man was only wearing a shirt so I had to give him my jacket because he was so cold. The South West Trains staff told us they had called us a taxi - but by 3am it was apparent it wasn't coming.

"We were left stranded by the very company that was supposed to be taking us to the places where we live.

"They just left us to deal with the problem."

The seven remaining passengers were forced to order a taxi themselves to take them back to Basingstoke, Winchester and Southampton.

Mr Yalland, the last person in the taxi, finally arrived at his Marchwood home at 5.30am, four-and-a-half hours after leaving London.

And just to add to his misery, the 36-year-old then had to stump up £180 of his own money for the 65-mile trip.

Mr Yalland said: "What makes me furious is that the train staff had absolutely no concern for their passengers. They treated us with absolute contempt. Each time I travel up to London on the train it costs me £50, and for that money I would expect a certain degree of customer service, but the way we were treated was outrageous."

A spokesman for South West Trains told the Daily Echo: "The guard and the driver of the train had to get to their next location, but this doesn't make up for leaving passengers stranded in the middle of the night.

"We will be more than happy to refund Mr Yalland for the money he spent on the taxi home.

"South West Trains will now be contacting the bus company to try to find out why another bus was not provided.

"We will do all we can to make sure this embarrassing incident doesn't happen again."