Hundreds of people have signed a petition opposing plans to close the ticket office in Taunton train station.

Less than a week after the petition was launched, almost 250 people have put their name to it calling for the ticket office to remain open.

The petition was launched by the Liberal Democrats. Candidate for the Taunton and Wellington constituency Gideon Amos said: "I’m really pleased that, in just a few days, hundreds have backed the campaign I’ve started to save our ticket office.

“The office and its friendly staff give warm welcomes to our County town and many fond farewells. 

“I’ll do everything I can to stop this Government backed move by rail companies to close it. The consultation closes on Wednesday, July 26, so adding your name can help us try and save something which makes our town such a great place.”

The RMT trade union are also fighting to save ticket offices, and have held dozens of protests outside train stations across the country, including in Taunton.

Plans set out by The Rail Delivery Group, which represents private railway operators, would see 1,000 ticket offices closed.

The proposals have also been slammed by West Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger, who said they would inconvenience tens of thousands of passengers.

Mr Liddell-Grainger said: said: “The ticket office on the north side has been closed and replaced by one unreliable machine while the company has now reneged on an agreement to allow passengers to use that entrance to access the remaining ticket office on the other side.

“The changes to the station have resulted in chaos.

“Drivers waiting to meet trains are still clogging the station forecourt because if they use the multi-storey car park and go over their allotted free time because the train is delayed - by no means an unusual occurrence with GWR - they get penalised.

“Closing the ticket office is just another two-fingered gesture to the travelling public.

“Thousands of elderly passengers do not have access to a computer and therefore cannot book online and to leave them at the mercy of unreliable machines is an appalling failure of customer care.

“The complaints from my constituents about problems at the station continue to pile up and I applaud the protest group for deciding to bring this issue to the notice of the travelling public.”