ST ALBANS MP Anne Main accused the Government of ignoring the problems of local commuters in a parliamentary debate on First Capital Connect yesterday.

Speaking not in the House of Commons but in Westminster Hall, she told rail minister Chris Mole he should have anticipated the disruption caused by a drivers' pay dispute at the end of last year.

She said: "I want the Minister to explain to me and my constituents why he had no sense of urgency about the matter.

"Why did he not anticipate that the work to rule would cause enormous disruption to the travelling public, and why did he not insist that the message was delivered to commuters, so that they did not labour on, completely in the dark about why train services were so disrupted?"