Fare dodgers who have avoided paying to travel on Greater Anglia trains have been ordered to pay just under £325,000.

A total of 1,032 people admitted to travelling on trains without paying or intending to pay for a ticket.

The offences took place between May and July this year across the whole Greater Anglia network, which includes Norfolk and Suffolk.

Kim Bucknell, head of revenue protection at Greater Anglia, said: "It’s easy to buy a ticket, either from a ticket office, ticket machine, online or via our app, so there is no excuse for travelling without a ticket – and it just ends up pushing up prices for our fare-paying customers.

"For every £1 spent on rail fares, 98p is invested in the railway. By not paying for a ticket, there’s less money available for investment to improve the railway for everyone."

The fare dodgers were dealt with by Single Justice Procedure courts in Reading and Hastings.

Magistrates processed 586 cases from May and June, imposing £110,901 in fines and £69,280 in costs.

So far they have also processed 446 cases from June and July and have set £80,553 in fines and £63,505 in costs.