TRAINS are experiencing heavy delays due to overrunning engineering works.

Trains between Littlehampton/Barnham and Brighton may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes, a Southern Rail spokesman warned.

Disruption was expected to last until 9am but this has since been revised to 10am.

Trains had previously not been serving stations in Angmering, Goring, Durrington, West Worthing, Worthing, East Worthing, Lancing, Shoreham, Southwick, Fishersgate, Portslade and Aldrington due to the work.

But shortly before 8am Southern Rail said the works had been completed and "services are beginning to return to normal".

But they added that "trains may still be cancelled, delayed by up to 30 minutes or diverted via Horsham whilst service recovers". 

The spokesman explained the reason for the work lasting longer than normal.

He said: "Most planned engineering work by Network Rail happens overnight, at weekends and on bank holidays, as this minimises disruption to passengers whilst also keeping engineers safe.

"Sometimes bad weather, machinery failure or unexpected complications can cause works to overrun.

"When an issue does occur, we work closely with Network Rail to quickly assess the situation and to complete remaining repair works, so train services can be restored as quickly as possible."

Train tickets will also be accepted on other Southern and Thameslink services, Brighton and Hove Buses between Brighton and Shoreham, Stagecoach 700 services and some South Western Railway and Great Western Railway services.

At 10am Southern Rail withdrew its warning about these delays.