THAMES Trains has been criticised for axing the last weekday train home from Reading.

Under a new timetable - to be introduced on May 18 - the first train to leave from Basingstoke, at 5.20am, and the last journey from Reading, at 12.10am, are both being withdrawn due, says the company, to "very low passenger use".

But Mike Hewitson, secretary of the southern area of the Rail Passengers Committee, whose area includes Basingstoke, said: "This loss could create hardship for some people."

He added: "Early morning and late evening trains are there for a purpose. No-one really wants to travel at 5.20am in the morning unless they have to. It's that type of train that goes into the brackets of 'socially important'."

He said the committee did not like to see early morning services reduced.

"They might not be used by many people, but those people who use them find them incredibly valuable," he said.

Both he and his counterpart, Sean O'Neil, whose western area covers Reading, intend to raise the service losses with Thames Trains at a meeting later this month.

"We will be raising a number of issues of service provision," said Mr O'Neil. "We will need to pursue this with them."

Mr Hewitson said the loss of the last train from Reading could lead to people going there on a night out, deciding to travel by car instead and care had to be taken that the railway industry does not contract into a service operating only during normal commuter hours.

The first Thames train for Reading from Basingstoke will now leave at 5.53am with the last returning at 11.20pm - 50 minutes earlier than the current service.

Michael Hodson, managing director of Thames Trains, said the company had shown a commitment to improving services wherever there is a passenger demand.

"However, like all businesses, it is necessary from time to time to make sensible small-scale economies to little-used services in order to protect the viability of the whole operation," he said.