More than a third of First Great Western trains in Oxfordshire were late in the past month - piling on more misery for commuters and passengers.

Only 64 per cent of the operator's trains in the Thames Valley area arrived on time after a new timetable was introduced on December 9.

Before the changes, about 73 per cent of trains arrived at the platform on schedule.

The firm, which has a target of 92 per cent punctuality, blamed timetable teething problems and essential track maintenance.

A spokesman for commuter campaign group OxRail Action said: "This comes as no surprise. The new timetable was supposed to fix all of this but passengers have been subjected to yet more misery."

Andrew Wilkins, of the Cotswold Line Promotion Group, believes the drop in punctuality is almost entirely down to poor service in the Cotswolds.

He said: "The punctuality and reliability in these parts over the past month has been appalling."

A spokesman for FGW said: "Our punctuality figures were badly affected by two engineering over-runs and serious signalling problems.

"At the same time, there were initial teething problems with the new timetable.

"These problems have been overcome and, given better luck with the infrastructure situation, we can look forward to consistent improvement and steady progress towards our target figures."

  • Witney MP and Conservative Party leader David Cameron has organised a public meeting in Charlbury on Friday so his constituents can put their complaints about problems with services on the Cotswold Line through the town to two senior FGW managers.

The firm's route director east, Mike Carroll, and Thames Valley general manager Richard Rowland will attend the meeting, at the Corner House, in Market Street, from 4.30pm to 5.40pm. See the Charlbury community website for more details.