Engineers to work through the night to restore London Euston rail services

Services at one of Britain's busiest railway stations are not expected to return to normal until the morning, after a fire closed the terminal.

Trains were cancelled going in and out of London Euston station from Wednesday afternoon after a blaze next to the track near South Hampstead triggered a power cut.

The incident affected customers on services including Midland, Virgin and Southern, connecting the hub with large areas of the country.

National Rail said a limited number of services were able to leave the station, which serves around 114,000 passengers each day, for a time but it was closed again because of poor lighting.

In a statement, Network Rail said it was hoping to get services back to normal by Thursday morning, with engineers working through the night.

It added: "An electrical fire at South Hampstead has stopped trains running in or out of London Euston.

"Train customers are impacted in London and the length of the West Coast Main Line, including Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.

"Engineers are preparing to work through the night to install 100 metres of 11,000-volt power cables with the aim of getting services back to normal on Thursday morning."

The fire also took out a stretch of the London Overground line between Euston and Harrow & Wealdstone.

A Virgin Trains spokesman said: "Tickets will be accepted for travel or a full refund offered. Alternative routes are available but customers are urged to check their journey before travelling."

Network Rail said the disruption was also affecting nearby terminals, such as Clapham Junction to the south west, and Milton Keynes Central in the north west.

Affected customers can find the latest travel information, including alternative routes, at nationalrail.co.uk and from their train operators.

According to the Office of Rail and Road, the independent regulator, Euston is the fifth busiest station in Britain with 41.7 million entries and exits in 2015/16.