The Abbey railway line will be out of action for the entire festive period and New Year.

London Northwestern Railway has confirmed there will be no trains running in either direction between Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey from December 20 until at least January 4.

The train operator says the decision has been made because of staff availability.

A spokesperson said: "As a result of the Omicron variant impacting the availability of our staff, we have had to replace the Abbey Line train service with buses with effect from Monday 20th December 2021 until Tuesday 4th January 2022 at the earliest.

"Buses will replace trains on these routes until the 4th January 2022 as a minimum. Details of the bus service will shortly be displayed on our website."

The Abbey line serves Watford and St Albans as well as Watford North, Garston, Bricket Wood, How Wood, and Park Street.