Time running out to sign Shropshire Star London rail link petition

So far more than 2,600 have signed the petition online, while dozens more have written to the paper to support the campaign by filling in our printed petition.

Shropshire's MPs will give a copy of the petition to officials at the Office of Rail Regulation at a meeting in London on Monday.

• To sign the petition, click here

• See www.shropshirestar.com/rail

And Shropshire Star editor Martin Wright has issued a final call to remind the people of Shropshire and Mid Wales to sign the petition to add further weight to the campaign. He said: "It has been fantastic to get so much support over the past few weeks for our campaign for a direct rail link to London.

"I would urge anyone interested in the issue to sign our petition online as soon as possible before our case is presented to the ORR on Monday."

The ORR backed Network Rail's decision to veto Virgin Trains' bid to start the service in December amid concerns it would put too much strain on a West Coast Main Line route already hit by punctuality problems.

Virgin hopes to get the service in place by May next year if improvements to the route can be completed in time. But Network Rail has indicated it may not be in a position to approve the service until autumn 2014 "at the earliest".

Network Rail has also said "that if performance does improve, additional services might be something we could consider".

Mr Wright added: "Hopefully the strength of feeling will encourage all parties to work together to make a direct rail link a reality."