RAIL travellers and commuters face chaos next week while the line through Pewsey and Great Bedwyn is closed for track repairs in the wake of the Hatfield disaster.

Railtrack says it has found a number of cracked sections of track on the line between Newbury and Exeter, including defects between Pewsey and Savernake.

The line will be closed between Castle Cary and Newbury on Saturday and Sunday for repairs to be carried out. From Monday until November 19 the line will be closed between Westbury and Newbury to allow work to continue.

Train companies are taking steps to minimise disruption by laying on buses, but a rail passengers' watchdog has warned that travellers, who last week suffered delays because of flooding, now face more misery.

Gordon Nicholls, a member of the Newbury and District Railway Passengers' Association, said: "It's been an absolute mess this last week with the disruption caused by the weather. This will cause complete and utter chaos."

First Great Western is laying on buses to offer a return link between Pewsey and Swindon train stations. The buses will run to the normal train timetable.

Thames Trains is also setting up a bus service to shuttle passengers between Great Bedwyn and Newbury. Once at Newbury travellers can catch Thames Trains to Reading and Paddington.

Commuter Gary Rawlinson, who lives in Burbage and travels daily from Great Bedwyn station to Newbury, said he was amazed to be told by Thames Trains that the line would be closed.

Mr Rawlinson said he rang Thames Trains to complain that its services from Newbury to Great Bedwyn were no longer co-ordinating with First Great Western trains from Paddington to Newbury, leaving Wiltshire passengers with long waits. He said he was amazed to be told by the Thames Trains inquiry desk that it could soon be a case of no trains at all on the Newbury-Pewsey line because of the repairs programme.

Mr Rawlinson said: "A lot of people will be extremely concerned to hear this."

A First Great Western spokeswoman said there were temporary problems caused by rescheduling of services because of track repairs. The situation had been made worse, she said, because of flooding between Taunton and Exeter.