AN INJUNCTION preventing a strike which would have halted train services in much of Oxfordshire next week was granted to Network Rail this afternoon.

The strike by signallers and maintenance staff would have have meant there would be only limited First Great Western services running between Oxford, Reading and London Paddington and on the main line from Didcot to Swindon, Bristol and South Wales, while Chiltern Railways would only have been able to operate between Bicester North and London Marylebone.

No trains would have run on the Cotswold Line from Oxford to Worcester or via Banbury to the Midlands.

Judge Mrs Justice Sharp made an interim order against the Rail Maritime and Transport union at a hearing at the High Court in London.

Earlier, lawyers representing Network Rail told her that "unlawful" strike action would cause "immense damage to the economy".

The union, which has called four days of action from next Tuesday, the day after the Easter break, strongly contested the legal move.

Bob Crow, the general secretary of the RMT, said: "This judgment is an attack on the whole trade union movement and twists the anti-union laws even further in favour of the bosses.

"Workers fighting for the principle of a safe railway have had the whole weight of the law thrown against them. Our executive will meet this evening with a recommendation for a re-ballot."

Robin Gisby, head of operations at Network Rail, said: "This is good news for the millions of passengers who rely on us every day, for our freight users and for the country.

"A dispute with the unions remains, however, and we have a responsibility to our people to continue talking to the unions to find a settlement that works for us all."