LONG-SUFFERING commuters in south Liverpool face continuing disruption on city centre train services because of work being carried out by United Utilities.

It follows a morning of rush hour misery for Merseyrail passengers travelling between Hunts Cross and Liverpool Central yesterday.

Heavy rain hit sewers running under St Michael’s station, which were already carrying extra water thanks to a collapsed sewer in nearby Riverside Drive.

It left hundreds of commuters facing a long wait in the rain for shuttle bus services laid on by Merseyrail between Hunts Cross and Liverpool Central.

The trains stopped running at 6.15am, and normal services were not resumed until 10.30am.

Merseyrail blamed United Utilities for the continuing problem, which has led to train services in the area being disrupted whenever there is heavy rain.

Power is turned off by Network Rail whenever there is a danger of standing water coming into contact with the electrified third rail.

United Utilities has rerouted drains and sewers during attempts to fix the Riverside Drive mains, which collapsed in November last year.