An East of England train operator's compensation scheme for delayed journeys has been ranked among the most efficient in the UK – with some passengers being refunded in a matter of minutes.

Figures from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) revealed Greater Anglia's Delay Repay scheme was among the country's fastest, with 99.5pc of the 326,000 claims the company closed between April and December 2018 dealt with within the 20 day target period.

It comes as a report by Which? said train companies were making it too difficult for customers to claim compensation for delayed journeys.

The consumer group found passengers were being asked for up to 24 pieces of information by some rail operators to make a claim.

In 2018 Greater Anglia introduced a faster compensation system which remembers customer's details, season ticket information and refund preferences, which the operator says is saving time for its 70,000 season ticket holders if they have to claim.

One customer said on Twitter that after submitting their claim it took Greater Anglia just six minutes to issue a refund.

Another commented: "Greater Anglia may not have been able to get me to Norwich on time yesterday but they were super quick at processing the delay repay claim."

Lynsey Flack, Greater Anglia's head of customer service, said, "We're really proud of our Delay Repay scheme.

"It's been developed and improved by listening to our customers, making it quick and easy for them to claim.

"If you register online the system remembers all your details so you don't have to resubmit information into a lengthy form - it's all done for you.

"We're also really proud that we've reduced the amount of time trains have to be delayed before you can make a claim to 15 minutes - and we've sped up the processing time for claims so that customers get their money back quicker too."

Refunds through Greater Anglia's Delay Repay scheme are given via credit / debit card, Paypal, via BACS or as an Amazon voucher.

There is also an option to make a donation to Greater Anglia's chosen charity, Samaritans, while making a claim, which was introduced at the request of customers and has helped raise more than £12,000 to date.