FIRST it was the wrong kind of snow, then it was leaves on the line. Now rodents chewing through cables could have been to blame for major delays for north Essex commuters.

People travelling between Tendring and London Liverpool Street yesterday - in both directions - were affected by a loss of power supply between Gidea Park and Ilford at about 9.20am.

Trains terminated at Shenfield, and shuttle trains and buses had to be used to get passengers to London, a Network Rail spokesman said.

One passenger, travelling from Colchester to Chelmsford, said station staff at Chelmsford told passengers the delays, which lasted the rest of the morning, had been caused by rats.

“It took me about two-and-a-half hours to get to Chelmsford today,” he said. “It was pretty grim, but luckily most of the commuters missed it.

“If it had been an hour earlier it would have been utter chaos.” A Network Rail spokesman initially confirmed that the disruption had been caused by “a rat gnawing through a high voltage power cable” in a signalling cabinet.

Yesterday evening Network Rail’s deputy head of media, P J Taylor, said an investigation was still establishing the cause.

He refused to confirm or deny whether rats were considered the culprits.

“We are currently investigating to see what caused the signalling problems between Ilford and Gidea Park this morning,” he said.

“This is the official line of Network Rail."

Services to and from Ipswich, Southend, Colchester and Norwich were affected, with mainline service terminating at Shenfield and shuttle trains services being run between Shenfield and Gidea Park and between Ilford and Liverpool Street.

Local buses had to be used between Gidea Park and Ilford.

Network Rail engineers bypassed the power source to restore some signalling along the route, before restoring full services by noon.