Commuters are tiring of “excuses” after a Watford train line was closed for five hours because of "rapidly growing plants".

The Abbey line, from St Albans Abbey to Watford Junction, was replaced by buses this morning (May 23) after an obstruction was reported near Garston station at around 6.45am, before being cleared at 11.48am.

A Network Rail spokesperson said: “We’re sorry to passengers impacted by delays on the Abbey line today.”

They added: “We immediately sent our teams to investigate and found lineside plants have been growing rapidly in the warm weather obscuring trackside equipment.

“These have now been cut back so trains can run again but our advice is to check National Rail Enquiries while train times return to normal.”

A St Albans Commuter & Passenger Action Group member shared the news, ending their message “I kid you not”.

So far this month buses have replaced trains or services on the route on May 21, 15, 14, 9, 5, and 1.

Kevin Ambrose, of rail users group Abfly, said: “We’ve been amused by the sheer range of reasons they’ve given over the last few years for train cancellations.”

He added: “We would encourage any users of the line to join us in making their complaints known to the operator.”