UNHAPPY rail passengers were left more hot and sweaty than they might have imagined after a series of air conditioning failures blighted the c2c network on the hottest day of the year.

Services during the evening peak on Tuesday were already busier than normal as c2c was accepting Greater Anglia tickets due to overhead line problems on the Southend Victoria branch line.

And c2c was inundated with complaints on social media from passengers bemoaning the fact air conditioning was not working in their carriage.

The problem was so widespread, the rail operator asked customers to tweet the five digit code of the carriage they were in if there was a problem.

Some customers even reported the system was pumping out hot air instead of cold air.

A c2c spokesman said: "We are sorry that some passengers have found air conditioning problems on some of our carriages. Just as with buildings and other premises the air temperatures in the 30s have tested our fleet.

"To deal with this we are checking every train at the end of each journey and resetting systems if they are found to need it. We have also provided extra staff to start up train air con systems earlier in the morning and early evening where trains have been parked out of service. We have very few faults on any systems but where we have found faults we have been repairing them promptly.

"We know this is a vital issue for customers and we are encouraging people to report any faults along with the vehicle number, and our examiners are picking these up as part of their checks."