Commuters have been urged to keep away from London Waterloo station because of a "major signalling problem".

South Western Railway apologised to passengers for the disruption and warned the influence could be widespread.

The operator instructed commuters on Thursday morning: "A major signalling problem that developed overnight at London Waterloo means that a significantly reduced service will operate to and from Waterloo this morning.

"We're advising clients to not try journey to or from London Waterloo this morning in consequence.

"Disruption will have an effect on different providers on the broader community so please examine earlier than you journey.

"We're sorry for the disruption this morning. Engineers are working to restore signalling however we expect disruption to last for most of the day."

South Western Railway stated the issue was because of "platforms 1 to 14 being unusable at Waterloo causing major congestion."

Passengers could face practice cancellations for the remainder of the day.

Trains to Alton, Guildford and Weymouth from Waterloo are among the many providers dealing with disruption.

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Chris Denham from Network Rail instructed Sky News: "This morning we are advising customers not to travel to or from Waterloo, unless absolutely necessary because there is a severely reduced service in operation.

"There will probably be widespread disruption throughout South Western Railway providers."

Network Rail tweeted earlier: "We’ve suffered a major power failure to signalling equipment at London Waterloo that means fewer than half the station platforms are usable by trains.

"We are advising South Western clients to not journey to or from Waterloo this morning because the disruption is extreme."

Travellers can declare full refunds if they're unable to journey, and season ticket holders will get a refund for the day.

Mr Denham stated clients ought to to contact the operator for a refund on delays and cancellations.

Content Source: information.sky.com