RAIL users will be hit by a series of nine fresh strikes starting later this month, the RMT union announced on Tuesday.

The walkouts will take place between for a month in the long-running dispute over guards on trains.

Strikes are set to take place on the weekend, with each strike day planned for a Saturday, and will hit while schoolchildren are on their half-term break.

The planned strikes are set to take place on South Western Railway services, on October 27 and November 3, 10, 17 and 24.

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.”

Passengers in Surrey and Hampshire heading for London’s Waterloo, as well as local services, have been hit by industrial action since earlier this year with the two sides deadlocked.