RAIL users on South Western Railway will be hit by a series of nine fresh strikes, the RMT union has announced.

The walkouts will take place between October 23 and November 24 as part of the long-running dispute over guards.

The planned strikes are set to take place on Saturdays October 27, November 3, November 10, November 17 and November 24, spanning two weekends of the autumn half-term break. Each strike will also take place between 12.01am and 11.59pm.

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said: “South Western Railway has stalled the talks process and has failed to provide any sort of offer that comes close to resolving this dispute which matches the widespread best practice in the industry, underpinned by the guard guarantee.”