The consultation on controversial plans to close most of the borough's rail station ticket offices and remove staff completely on some days is being extended.

The decision follows a national backlash, which included disability groups, MPs, council leaders and residents across the Richmond borough.

Many organisations complained that the consultation period ran for just three weeks and officially closed today – Wednesday. However, this has now been extended to September 1.

Virtually all commuter stations used by workers and school children in the area will lose their ticket offices and be reduced to a single member of staff, who will only be available for short periods of the day.

A number of the stations, which are operated by South Western Railway(SWR), will lose staff completely on some days of the week as revealed by Nub News – https://richmond.nub.news/news/local-news/borough-disability-champions-slam-rail-station-ticket-office-closures-as-details-revealed-191096

Passengers can make their views known through several routes, including the SWR website – https://www.southwesternrailway.com/station-change-proposal.

Alternatively, objections can be made by visiting https://www.transportfocus.org.uk/ or https://www.londontravelwatch.org.uk/

Ruils, which is the lead borough charity supporting disabled children and adults, as well as those with long term health and mental health conditions, warned: "These proposals are discriminatory and will strip away independent travel for disabled people across the country."

Council leader, Gareth Roberts, joined the fight, saying: "In my view, there are some serious degradations to services being planned.

"There have been grave concerns raised by Ruils and other disability and access charities regarding this. It is only through the consultation process that our voices will be heard."

Today, the chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, Jacqueline Starr, said: "Train companies have listened to feedback, and are extending the time available to respond to the consultation on changes to how tickets are sold at stations to September 1.

"Operators are keen to give more people a chance to give their views on the proposals, so they can bring the railway up to date with dramatic shifts in customer buying habits, while supporting all its customers as the railway evolves and adapts.

"While local plans vary, the aim of the proposals is to bring staff out from behind ticket office windows to offer more help for customers buying tickets and navigating stations. At the same time ticket vending machines are being upgraded to offer a wider range of fares, and we have committed that no customer will have to go out of their way to buy a ticket."