Network Rail has announced that a major line will remain closed for at least two weeks.

The track between Tonbridge and Redhill will not operate while engineers deal with urgent repairs to the embankment which carries the railway between Tonbridge and Edenbridge.

Problems with it were detected on Friday evening with the company saying it has had to deal with repeated defects throughout the weekend.

Following a thorough assessment by geotechnical specialists, more substantial work to address the problem will now go ahead.

A Network Rail spokesman said it was working closely with environmental and ecological specialists to minimise any impact on wildlife in the area.

Engineering and asset management director, Mark Killick, has apologised for the closure and said experts would be working around the clock to fix the problems.

He said: “In recent months we’ve seen extreme levels of rain, including the wettest February in this part of the country for 200 years.

“This has put stress on parts of our infrastructure, particularly earthworks. We are working on site now to understand the cause and full extent of the problem and we will share more updates as soon as we can.”

Rail replacement busses will be used and customers will be allowed to use existing tickets on other routes - more details will be available from Southern Railway’s website.

People are being encouraged to allow more time to travel while the problems are dealt with.