QUESTIONS are to be raised at Westminster following revelations in the Daily Echo about safety concerns centring on the south's overcrowded trains.

Romsey MP Sandra Gidley is tabling a question in the House of Commons about the controversial issue after a spokeswoman for the Health and Safety Executive said overcrowding was "not a safety issue".

Her call for urgent action follows a Daily Echo article that revealed how 14 passengers were crammed into a connecting corridor on a commuter train bound for Southampton from Waterloo.

The MP added she would also be asking for an adjournment debate into the issue of overcrowding and rail safety.

Mrs Gidley called the Health and Safety Executive's position "staggering".

She said: "I find it difficult to believe that there is not some sort of health and safety issue. Common sense says it is right that people should not be packed like sardines."

The call follows complaints about a nightmare journey on board South West Trains by commuter Darryl Clarke, from Shirley in Southampton.

He said passengers on a London Waterloo to Southampton train had been so stifled in carriages they had been forced to open windows using keys and coins. No guard was on the train.

South West Trains denied there was a health and safety problem and said passengers were only likely to get killed if they jumped out.