A Bolton train station has been named the ‘worst’ in the UK, with others in the area featuring in the bottom 10 – according to fresh figures.

Kearsley ranks as the country’s ‘lowest performing station’ - over the four weeks leading to May 28 - for punctuality and cancellation rate according to Ontimetrains.

Eighty one per cent of the station’s stopping trains are delayed or cancelled and most delays have been over two minutes, the website says.

Moses Gate is named fourth worst in the UK on the list, with eighty two per cent of services delayed or cancelled, albeit the majority of delays were between one and two minutes.

On May 13, a scant five per cent of Kearsley’s services arrived at the station on time.

Labour Cllr for Kearsley ward Debbie Newall said: “I’m very disappointed.”

“We’ve campaigned for a long time to get a better service, they have surprised me those figures, but then again, the service hasn’t been right for a long, long time.

“So, it’s just something we’ll carry on campaigning to improve, it’s something I will take up with their executive so we can get a better service.”

Blackrod commuters have also suffered, with only 22 per cent of services arriving on time and 17 per cent cancelled, in the last 28 days, ranking the station at tenth worst.

The Bolton News:

Bolton station – the busiest by far in the area with 8,000 passengers a day – ranked as 'the worst of the top 500 busiest UK stations', recording a third of trains delayed or cancelled over the four-week period.

A Northern Rail spokesperson said: “Recently, our performance and reliability have not been up to scratch and for that we are sorry.

“We are very actively managing higher levels of staff sickness, and on Sundays, which rely on crews volunteering to work additional hours, we have seen a reduction in train crew making themselves available on parts of the network.

“In addition, the ongoing industrial relations issues have their own impact. We are working hard with our colleagues and other train operators to improve service reliability.”

Ontimetrains calculate performance based off the frequency and length of delays, plus how often trains are cancelled.