Furious parents and the shadow minister for transport Bernard Jenkin have joined in the fight against a decision for an early-morning train to bypass village railway stations.

Village commuters are up in arms that Great Eastern's new timetable means trains will be speeding past them to Colchester.

In three weeks, the 7.45am from Clacton which currently takes passengers into Colchester for work and school, will only be stopping at Thorpe.

North Essex MP Bernard Jenkin has now backed the protesters over the axing of their train.

He has already written to Great Eastern asking them to reconsider.

"If Great Eastern remove this service then many villagers who work in Colchester will be forced to leave their houses very early or be late for work.

"I imagine that most people will simply have no choice but to drive into Colchester rather than use public transport."

Village commuters including Janice Pyman, of Alresford, have already registered their complaints.

He was also incensed that when he telephoned Great Eastern, he was told the new timetables had already gone through a consultative process.

He said they had purchased a season ticket and heard nothing about the timetable changes until it was announced on the early-morning train on Friday.

Juliet Sharman, for Great Eastern, said consultations had taken place in November among statutory bodies like the county and parish councils and user groups.

However, she said that travellers could still write letters of complaint which would be considered.

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