Passengers were delayed this morning after problems with one of South Central's new trains.

The train was stuck at Shoreham station for 20 minutes because of problems with carriage doors.

The train, recently bought as part of a multi-million-pound new fleet, was delayed shortly after 7am.

A South Central spokeswoman said: "There was a minor problem with one of the doors on one of our new trains.

"It looks like the door wasn't opening properly. It was just a teething problem really."

The train was made up of the latest batch of modern Class 375 coaches bought to replace the firm's 40-year-old slam-door trains.

South Central has promised to replace all slam-door trains by the end of 2004 with 1,300 new carriages.

But it was revealed last month 736 new carriages may remain out-of-action until 2006 due to electric power problems.