Company director, 33, is held by police and wrongly accused of fraud after using a loophole in Britain's confusing train fare system to save money on a ticket from London to Preston

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Steve Morrissey was wrongly detained by a police on suspicion of fraud

A commuter was wrongly detained by a police on suspicion of fraud after he used a loophole in Britain's confusing fare system to get himself a cheaper rail ticket.

Company director Steve Morrissey, 33, would normally get the train to London from Preston - but realised by getting on 25 miles further away in Lancaster his ticket would be almost £260 cheaper.

But during his journey on a Virgin train to London Euston, a guard examined his £92.20 ticket from Lancaster, accused him of getting on at Preston and said he should pay the £356 return it would cost to travel from there.

The guard demanded Mr Morrissey's name and address and said he should pay extra - but when the father of one protested and refused to pay up, police were waiting on the platform to question him when he arrived in London.

Officers quizzed Mr Morrissey, from Blackpool, for more than 30 minutes until he was freed without charge after Virgin officials checked CCTV cameras and established he had in fact got on at Lancaster and had a valid ticket.

The bizarre ticket prices were given even though the distance between Preston and Euston is 228 miles, while it is 253 miles from Lancaster to London.

Mr Morrissey, who runs a software company, said he had missed a business meeting as a result of his detention and slammed Virgin staff as 'heavy handed' and 'jobsworths'.

During his journey on a Virgin train to Euston, a guard examined his £92.20 ticket from Lancaster accused him of getting on at Preston and said he should got the £356 return it would cost to travel from there

He gave a running commentary of his ordeal in a series of tweets that he sent to Richard Branson. His first tweet began: 'Tickets? I show ticket. Where did you board? Lancaster. No you didn't. I didn't see you! #jobsworth.'

His second said: 'Update... my choice is buy a new ticket or give my name and address for unpaid fare!!! lol I have a ticket!'

The third read: 'Update... I'm not doing either - apparently I will be met by the police! horrendous service!'

And a fourth said: 'Held for over 30 minutes against my will by @VirginTrains over a complete #jobsworth! Aaaggghhhhh #missedmeeting #unhappy #nocustomerservice.'

Mr Morrissey said: 'I did nothing wrong yet they were calling me a liar. They were saying I'd got on the train at Preston and not Lancaster. I've never been so embarrassed in my life.'

The incident occurred on January 31 when Mr Morrissey - a regular business traveller between Lancashire and London - booked a last-minute ticket to meet business colleagues.

Mr Morrissey (pictured on another train journey), from Blackpool who runs a software company said he had missed a business meeting as a result of his detention and slammed Virgin staff as 'heavy handed' and 'jobsworths'

The bizarre ticket prices were given even though the distance between Preston and Euston is 228 miles, while it is 253 miles from Lancaster to London

'This particular trip was a last-minute thing and I only booked it the night before and so I looked at the prices and saw a return from Lancaster was £93, while it was £350 from Preston,' he said.

'It was a no-brainer really. Going to Lancaster is only an extra 10 minutes from my house compared to Preston, so I went for that.

'When I got to the station a member of the Virgin staff checked my ticket and said it was fine. Then the same guy checked it again on the trip between Lancaster and Preston and said it was OK.

'But then the same bloke again came round a third time near Warrington and accused me of getting on at Preston. 

'He said he didn't remember me from the previous two ticket inspections and said I had two choices - buy a new ticket at full price or give my name and address for them to send me a penalty notice.

'I refused to do both and so, when we got to London, the police were waiting. It was so embarrassing being accused in front of a crowded carriage of fraud.

He gave a running commentary of his ordeal in a series of tweets which he sent to Richard Branson

'Then being questioned by police at a busy station was equally embarrassing. It was only when they agreed to look at the CCTV that they saw I really had got on at Lancaster. 

'I got a verbal 'sorry' and they offered me a 50 per cent discount on my next trip - it's an appalling way to treat your customers. I can't believe they were so heavy-handed and refused to listen.'

Last month another commuter claimed he was threatened with arrest after he got on Preston having bought a cheaper single ticket from Lancaster. 

Another passenger who bought a ticket from London to Lancaster claimed he tried to get off early at Preston but was told he had to continue his journey through to Lancaster and then get a train back - otherwise he could be accused of fraud.

He later posted this tweet praising the service he got from the same company on his journey back up

Officers quizzed Mr Morrissey for over 30 minutes until he was freed without charge after Virgin officials checked CCTV cameras

Local Tory MP Mark Menzies who has raised the issue of confusing rail fares in Parliament said: 'When I first raised this ticket pricing scandal a few weeks ago, which punishes travellers using Preston station, little did I know I would be lifting the lid on what is absolutely shocking practices by Virgin.

'Based on what I am hearing from a large number of people who have contacted me, Virgin seems to have lost the plot. Unless Virgin can come up with a solution to this situation, I think a serious investigation is the only way forward.'

A spokesman for Virgin Trains on the West Coast route said: 'Virgin Trains has an excellent reputation for customer service and we want everyone to have the best experience possible.

'We're sorry to hear of Mr Morrissey's experience which falls short of the high standards we set ourselves. We have been in touch to offer him an apology and a goodwill gesture which he has accepted, and we will be looking into how we can learn from this incident.'