A RUNCORN MP says his constituents are ‘flabbergasted’ by a Government decision to extend a rail contract because its service is now ‘a little less rubbish’.

It comes as Avanti West Coast has now been granted a further six-months extension to its West Coast Main Line franchise.

Weaver Vale MP Mike Amesbury has previously called for Avanti to lose the franchise because of poor reliability and punctuality.

Avanti's current contract was due to finish at the end of this month after it was given a temporary six-month extension last October and told to urgently improve.

Mr Amesbury, who believes the company is being ‘rewarded for failure’, spoke out on the matter to Transport Secretary Mark Harper in the House of Commons.

He said: “It seems that an assessment has been made by the Secretary of State that actually the service is just a little less rubbish.

“Is that really a just case for extending the contract? My constituents are flabbergasted.”

Mr Amesbury, who has personally experienced service cancellations and delays on a regular basis, believes the operation should be brought into public ownership.

But Mr Harper countered that Avanti had delivered ‘improved performance’.

He responded: “I was very frank with the house that the service last summer and autumn was completely unacceptable.

“Avanti brought in a new timetable in December. For the first month, we did not really see any improvement because there was sustained industrial action on the railways.

“Since then, it has delivered improved performance. Is it good enough? No, it is not—I have made that clear.

“But I believe that it has demonstrated that it has turned things around enough to justify giving it the chance of a further six months to show that it can do the job.

“We will see whether it does that job in the next six months, but it has demonstrated that it can turn things around.”