A train operator which runs services across the Midlands has given away 127,000 free tickets to more than 25,000 passengers as compensation for delays and cancellations last year.

Almost 1,000 London Midland trains were disrupted due to driver shortages between October and December 2012.

The Government forced the company to offer a £7 million package of benefits, which included season ticket holders getting five days of free travel passes.

The firm, which has been advertising the compensation package on billboards at local stations, claimed drivers had been poached by rival firms paying higher wages.

Passengers had to apply for the free travel between 5 February and 30 April.

A London Midland spokesman said: “We are pleased that so many people have come forward to claim their free tickets, each of which offers a day’s unlimited travel on our network.”

The firm, which will continue to operate the routes until at least September 2015, said the number of tickets claimed was “close to the number they were expecting”.

In a deal with the Department for Transport, London Midland is to invest at least £2.25 million on a range of measures to benefit passengers – primarily in the West Midlands, where the worst disruption was experienced.

Lobbying group The West Midlands Campaign for Better Transport accused the rail firm of overseeing a ‘shambles’.