TORY transport minister Huw Merriman took refuge in a northern railway station ticket office as protesters opposing government plans to shut them demonstrated outside the building today.

Mr Merriman, whose duties include responsibility for “rail transformation and reform and HS2,” was travelling on the historic Settle-Carlile railway when he was confronted by a welcoming committee of protesters at Appleby railway station in Cumbria.

They included members of rail union RMT and campaigners opposed to the ticket office closures, including at Appleby.