Rail services on the East Coast Main Line will be brought back under public control following the termination of the franchise agreement with Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC), Stagecoach Group has said.

The firm, which owns 90% of VTEC, said it was "surprised and disappointed" that the Government chose not to award it a new deal to continue running services on the London to Edinburgh route.

Trains will be run by the Department for Transport (DfT) through an operator of last resort (OLR).

Stagecoach pledged to "work constructively with the DfT and the OLR in the weeks ahead to ensure a professional transfer to the new arrangements".

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling told the Commons in February that the franchise would only be able to continue in its current form for a "very small number of months" as Stagecoach had "got its numbers wrong" and "overbid".