Greater Anglia has insisted that delays to introducing its new trains are not the cause of problems on rural and cross-country services in the region.

Councillors representing communities on the line between Ipswich and Cambridge say many trains have been replaced by single-carriage trains, or cancelled altogether because existing trains have been sent to Wales.

However a spokeswoman said only four trains had left the region, while 11 new trains had been introduced serving lines from Norwich.

There had been a number of technical faults and accidents with hitting objects on the line - including a collision with a herd of deer - that had forced some trains to be repaired

She said: "We apologise to those customers who have been affected by services operating with shorter trains than normal. We know how important it is to our customers that they have a seat."