A long-running dispute over the role of train guards that disrupted services in south and west Wiltshire has come to an end.

The strike by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union hit services on South Western Railway resulting in 74 days of strike between 2017 and 2020.

The RMT organised the strike in support of its opposition to SWR plans for drivers to operate the doors on new trains instead of guards.

The union has now accepted the change after SWR guaranteed a guard would still be put on every passenger train.

The disruption caused by the RMT’s industrial action resulted in around 800 trains being cancelled on every strike day, affecting tens of thousands of passengers each time.

The last strike came in January last year, but the dispute was still unresolved when the pandemic struck.

SWR has ordered 90 new trains designed to work without a guard and the RMT has accepted drivers will operate the doors.

The train operator runs services between Devon and London Waterloo, covering Somerset, Bristol, Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Berkshire, as well as Surrey, the Isle of Wight and Greater London areas.