First engineering work stopped their train. Then a replacement bus broke down. But the final blow for six sorry passengers came when rail staff jumped in a taxi and abandoned them outside London in the snow.

"They said not to worry there will be another bus or a larger taxi along in a minute. Then they scarpered," said actuary Alex Waite, one of the people left stranded at a roundabout near the town of Woking on Tuesday night. After half an hour of shivering in the cold, no-one had arrived so one of the other passengers called a cab to rescue the group and drop them home at a cost of £180, Mr Waite, 37, told Reuters, adding that South West Trains had agreed to refund the amount. The Times quoted the firm as saying the train driver and guard had needed to go as quickly as possible for another job.