Further rail strikes could cause disruption for Great North Runners

Rail services in the North East are again being disrupted in a long-running dispute over the role of guards on trains.

Members of the RMT union working for Northern Rail are on strike for 24 hours, until midnight on Saturday 8 September.

People travelling to the North East for the Great North Run on Sunday are being urged to check before they travel to ensure their train will depart as scheduled.

The union has also announced a series of further strike dates which will affect all the remaining Saturdays in September.

Northern Rail said it was hoping to run around a third of its services but there would be few trains in operations after 6pm.