A planned four-day rail strike that had been expected to hit commuters returning to work after the Easter holiday has been called off.

Network Rail won a court injunction this afternoon to stop members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union from taking industrial action.

Robin Gisby, Network Rail operations and customer services director, said the result was good news for millions of passengers.

He said: "The signallers' strike is off and train services next week will run as normal. This is good news for the millions of passengers who rely on us every day, and for our freight users and for the country as a whole."

He added: "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." The RMT had planned the four-day walkout in reaction to a dispute over proposed job cuts and altered working hours.

But the rail company argued that it believed there were "scores of inaccuracies and deficiencies with the ballot" that would make the strike invalid.

Judge Mrs Justice Sharp upheld Network Rail's claim that the ballot had been "riddled with errors" at today's High Court hearing.

It is believed RMT officials will be looking to re-ballot members about strike action at a later date.

Travellers may also face a possible Tube strike in coming weeks as the RMT announced on Tuesday that they are preparing to ballot underground staff.

• What do you think? Let us know by emailing cfleming@london.newsquest.co.uk, phone the newsdesk on 020 8744 4274 or leave a comment below.