Angry passengers pulled the emergency cord when their train failed to stop at a station, it has emerged.

The 5:09pm Leigh to Fenchurch Street service was running 13 minutes late because of a signal fault at Pitsea when the decision was taken to miss out stops at Barking and Upminster.

But disgruntled passengers on Tuesday's train pulled the emergency cord, forcing a stop at Barking.

One passenger said travellers had even banged on the driver's door, demanding he stop and let them off.

A c2c spokesman said the decision not to stop had been taken because the train was due to leave Fenchurch Street again at 6.04pm and was one of the busiest trains of the day.

But he apologised if this had not been made clear to passengers, who should have been advised to get off at Basildon and wait for the next train.