Watford MP Richard Harrington has launched a petition against London Midland trains over the poor service it is providing the town.

The move comes after the Conservative backbencher said he had "had enough of their excuses" over the problems afflicting its services.

Mr Harrington said he wants passengers unhappy with London Midland to put their names to the petition, which will then be handed into the Department of Transport.

The MP said: "Problems with London Midland have been going on for too long. Again and again they have made promises that services would be improved but this is clearly not the case, as we saw over the Christmas periods with continuing delays and cancellations.

"These problems have occurred when London Midland have introduced another large fare rise.

"I am launching this petition to give people the chance to show their support for further action to be taken and to tell London Midland that their service just isn’t good enough.

The petition has been set up after passengers have suffered a series of problems on services to and from Watford.

Notably among the problem-hit lines is the Abbey Flyer service, between Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey which has frequently been cancelled due to a lack of staff, leaving passengers to get a replacement bus service.

Over the last months Mr Harrington has criticised the train operator for not solving its issues and met with London Midland bosses who promised improvement.

However he said over Christmas the promised improvements had failed to materialise.

"Train users in Watford deserve better and this petition will send a message to London Midland and the Government that London Midland are not performing well enough and action is needed to fix these ongoing problems," added Mr Harrington.

"London Midland have been given enough chances to make improvements and I have had enough of their excuses and promises, now is the time for action."

The petition can be found at http://www.richardharrington.org.uk/not-fare