Network Rail's Mark Carne has told Sky News he will not take his bonus after travellers endured travel chaos at Christmas.

The chief executive was criticised after travellers were left stranded when engineering works over-ran.

London King's Cross had to shut and all trains to and from the station were cancelled.

Travellers then complaining of "being locked" in by overcrowding when diverted to Finsbury Park station. Other people were left waiting for hours - even after the station reopened.

Paddington station also closed for several hours on Saturday.

Mr Carne said: "I'm accountable for the performance of the railway. In my view, the performance over the Christmas and New Year period was not acceptable."

"And I've decided I should not take the bonus for this year."

He insisted he had been dealing with the situation, despite being on holiday in Cornwall at the time.

Mr Carne could have got up to £135,000 in a performance-related annual pay bonus for 2014/15 - on top of his £675,000 annual salary.

Network Rail admitted to Sky News at the weekend that things had gone "very badly wrong" at the two London sites.

Rail watchdog the Office of Rail Regulation is launching an investigation into the chaos.

The Department of Transport also said it was "extremely disappointed" and that it would be demanding an explanation.