A RAIL users' lobbying group has taken its campaign for better services for Kidderminster to the top by meeting the rail minister.

Stourbridge Line User Group represents people who commute from Worcester to Birmingham via Kidderminster and arranged to see the minister, Derek Twigg, on Tuesday.

The meeting was also attended by Wyre Forest MP, Dr Richard Taylor.

Members of the group have been pressing for direct trains from stations on the line - including Kidderminster - to Birmingham New Street for better connections across the country.

The group stepped up its campaign after the Department for Transport published its consultation on the future West Midlands passenger rail franchise.

It showed no major changes were proposed for Worcester-Kidderminster-Stourbridge Junction-Birmingham trains but they could be transferred to Chiltern Railways.

Nigel Tolley, the group's chairman, said: "We're campaigning for what the local area needs and that means easy connections to destinations throughout Britain, as well as convenient and frequent services on both the main line and the Stourbridge Town branch."

Mr Tolley said the meeting with the minister "went very well", adding: "Basically, the outcome was Derek Twigg could see our point of view.

"He could see all the advantages of the service running into New Street and he could see it was putting a lot of people out not running into there."

The user group chairman said Mr Twigg would contact Network Rail to see if New Street had the extra capacity to take trains travelling in from Kidderminster.