A Colchester councillor is taking Anglia Railways to task after he was turfed out of the first-class standing area on a packed train.

David Canning, a City project manager, pays £3,500 a year to travel standard class to London.

But, when the 7.30am from Colchester's North Station is full, he has found he has no choice but to stand by the door in first-class.

That was until a ticket-collector told him that, following previous complaints from first-class passengers, this was against the rules.

Now, he plans to complain to the company.

Mr Canning, a Labour councillor for the Harbour ward, said: "Four of us had to troop back, crest-fallen, to standard class. I have been doing it for months, and this was the first time I had heard about the rule."

An Anglia spokesman said: "This is not a new issue at all. It has always been the case ever since British Rail days. If you have a standard-class ticket, you should be in standard-class accom- modation."

"We are sorry that the rule is as harsh as it is, but it is because people abuse it. So, we don't believe we can really relax it, because we believe it will be abused even more."

Published Monday, March 18, 2002