Angry and frustrated commuters have hit out at ongoing cancellations of train services in south Essex due to a lack of train drivers being available.

In recent days, c2c has been cancelling train services from Fenchurch Street to Southend during peak hours, starting from 3pm.

Steve Allery, 37, from Central Avenue, Benfleet, is fuming. He said: “I have been using this train line for many years. I get on at Limehouse, and in the past three days there’s been four cancellations because there aren’t enough drivers.

“My return trip usually takes 70 minutes. Because of the train delays it adds an extra two hours to my journey time. If one of your trains get cancelled, it doesn’t mean you can get on the next one because it’ll be packed with passengers whose trains got cancelled.”

Another passenger, Holly Horton, 23, from Stromness Road, Southend, said: “On Tuesday my train was cancelled. I got on the next one and it was totally packed. The worst part is the trains are suddenly all packed with moody passengers and you’re crammed like sardines in a tin.”

A c2c spokesman confirmed they have cancelled 14 peak trains in the past week because there were no drivers available. They also confirmed they are training new drivers to make up for the shortfall.

A statement read: “c2c employs more than 150 train drivers. We offer overtime as a normal method of boosting our contingency for holiday and sickness cover.

“In the past week in particular we have had a spike in short-term sickness and a lack of driver availability, and this has led to increased cancellations. We make every effort to avoid cancelling trains whenever possible, and we are very sorry that this has caused delays to your journey.

“We have recently agreed with the Aslef trade union that we will increase the number of passenger train drivers we currently employ by an extra 17 per cent.”

Passengers can also expect further train delays on the Greater Anglia service as rail upgrades will be carried out over Christmas and the New Year.