The train line between Norwich and London Liverpool Street has reopened after hours of disruption caused by damage to overhead wires in two locations in Essex.

Network Rail engineers have been on site fixing the problem between Shenfield and Chelmsford this afternoon so that trains can run during the evening peak. Trains will still travel through the area, but there will be a reduced service and delays until 7pm.

This follows a separate incident reported late on Thursday evening. During an inspection carried out at 11pm, significant damage was found to the overhead wires between Shenfield and Chelmsford. The line was closed overnight while Network Rail engineers worked to carry out repairs and the line reopened at 8:10am this morning.

Steve Hooker, Network Rail's area director for Anglia, said: 'I apologise to passengers who were affected by the issues this morning and this afternoon. We have carried out repairs to the overhead wires so that trains can run through the evening peak and passengers can get home tonight. However, there will be a reduced service and passengers are advised to check before they travel.

'Further repairs will be carried out overnight to get the service back to normal as soon as possible. A full investigation will be carried out to find out exactly what caused the problems.'

Great Anglia has said that tickets for today will be accepted tomorrow and other ticket restrictions for today have been lifted.

Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia Managing Director, said: 'We are very sorry for the inconvenience today's disruption has caused to passengers travelling to London on the Great Eastern Main Line throughout the day.

'Any passenger affected by these delays should claim for Delay Repay compensation via the Greater Anglia website or by picking up a leaflet from stations.'

It follows a problem with points at Norwich railway station yesterday which meant trains between the city and Great Yarmouth were cancelled for part of the morning.