Commuters faced a long journey home this evening after a broken down freight train blocked three busy routes out of London.

Southeastern trains running from London Victoria, London Charing Cross and London St Pancras towards Faversham were all delayed.

The freight train - which was carrying ballast and sleepers to repair the line damaged after a Southeastern service collided with cattle on Sunday - broke down at Gillingham.

Some services between Ebbsfleet and Faversham were cancelled, and a replacement bus service brought in between Ebbsfleet and Faversham.

Commuters faced delays of up to 60 minutes between Chatham and Faversham.

Passengers have took to social media to vent their concerns, with many stuck on stationary trains in London.

The broken down train meant anyone using rail services to avoid Operation Stack faced long delays out of London.

Just after 5pm Southeastern tweeted the train had been moved, but warned delays and cancellations could affect services out of London until 8pm.

Network Rail confirmed the freight train was carrying materials destined for the line between Wye and Chilham, where 400 metres of track was damaged when a Southeastern service derailed.

The train hit cattle late on Sunday, pushing one carriage off the tracks.

Yesterday a crane lifted the carriage back onto the line and engineers are currently working to fix the damage.

A Network Rail spokesman said the breakdown would not delay repairs.

"We have robust plans in place, and a spare locomotive was on hand to take over," said a spokesman.

"The materials will get there on time."