A GROUP of cyclists was left stranded at a Hampshire rail station after a guard wrongly barred them from boarding a train.

Student James Copeman, 22, was among seven people with bikes at Swanwick station who were told that only two of them were allowed to board.

After an argument with the guard just one cyclist managed to get on the service to Southampton before it pulled away.

The remaining six feared that they could be stuck at the station for hours and confronted the station manger.

He arranged for another train run by South Central Trains to pick them up - even though it wasn't scheduled to stop.

Now South West Trains has apologised because the guard was not aware that he did have the power to allow them to board.

An SWT spokesman said that although the train only had two bike racks the guard could have allowed more cyclists on board if there was room.

She said: "We are sorry about the situation and have spoken to the guard to inform him of his discretionary power.

"However, if the train is full then we cannot allow more cyclists on board than it is equipped for."

Mr Copeman, of Beacon Way, Swanwick, said: "The company should do more to make its drivers aware of the company rules.

"The guard was adamant that we weren't all allowed on board. One guy was very vocal and just got on. Before anyone else could stop him it pulled away.

"We thought we would be waiting there hours if only two people were allowed to board each train that came. It was a huge relief when the train that was supposed to go straight through to Southampton agreed to drop off at the individual stations that people needed."

The student, who is currently working as a labourer on a building site in Basingstoke before taking a place at Oxford University to study English language and literature, was taking the train to visit a friend in Southampton.

He said: "I used to get the train to work every morning with my bike but I'm too worried about not beingallowed to board, so I use a company van which is obviously not environmentally-friendly."