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Metro mayors from across the north of England have demanded that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Transport Secretary Mark Harper "haul operators to the table" to sort out the cancellations and delays affecting the region's rail network.

The north has seen weeks of disruption, with hundreds of services cancelled by operators, including TransPennine Express, Avanti West Coast and Northern.

Mayors from Manchester, Liverpool, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and North Tyneside held an emergency meeting on Thursday afternoon to demand action for travellers.

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On Thursday afternoon West Yorkshire mayor Tracy Brabin called an emergency meeting with mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham; the mayor of the Liverpool City Region, Steve Rotheram; the mayor of the North of Tyne, Jamie Driscoll; and the mayor of South Yorkshire, Oliver Coppard.

In a statement, the five mayors said: “As thousands of last-minute cancellations continue to make life miserable for people in the North, and cause serious damage to the economy, the Government remains in a state of paralysis having just appointed its third Transport Secretary in seven weeks.

“If this level of disruption was being experienced in other parts of the country, we believe action would already have been taken to improve matters.

“We do not accept that passengers in the North should be treated in this way and just expected to put up with it. We won’t.”