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Witham's new MP has found a cause to champion. She wants to stand up for the hard-pressed commuters of Essex - and a newspaper seller.

We'll deal with the newspaper seller in a moment. The plight of the Essex commuter is probably easier to understand.

Every year some four million people travel from stations in Ms Patel's constituency along the main line to Liverpool Street. It is one of the busiest lines in the country and, with only one track in either direction, it's often the scene of hold ups and delays. The 50-year-old overhead power lines don't help.

Many commuters hold National Express responsible and today Ms Patel secured a debate in Parliament entitled "The performance of National Express East Anglia".

"If you're a commuter paying a lot of money every day, you want to have a reasonably pleasant journey," said Ms Patel.

"If National Express can't provide the type of service my constituents expect they'd obviously welcome a new operator taking over."

Hardly any other MPs turned up for the debate and the only intervention came from Andrew Percy, MP for Brigg and Goole which is a long way from Essex, but Ms Patel had a long list of things to complain about.

"Only 62% of National Express passengers from Essex arrive in London on time. Just 48% travelling from London arrive on time. The minister will be aware that customer satisfaction levels are the second lowest in the country. Commuters deserve better."

She was also concerned about rising fares, while places like Kelvedon and Witham faced losing a couple of their services every day.

"Commuters feel they are having to pay more for a reduced service," said Ms Patel.

And then there's the newspaper seller. For years Nigel Clark has had a stall at Marks Tey station but because of a £2.4m refurbishment, his stall is going to disappear.

Ms Patel, we learned, has not only written to the Prime Minister and the Rail Minister about his plight. She also handed in a petition of 700 signatures calling for him to be given a new stall.

"In all weather conditions he has served commuters their morning coffees and newspapers every day but since the plans were put together, he's been effectively made homeless," Ms Patel informed the house.

Rail Minister Theresa Villiers replied, assuring Ms Patel that the government was determined to see improved performance across the rail network.

But Ms Villiers felt she should stand up for National Express. She said 90.9% of all National Express trains arrived on time she said before admitting that was across the whole network and may not relate to some commuters' experiences.

"Clearly there is room for improvement and the government will hold train operators to account for their performance," she said.

She revealed that when National Express had problems with its fleet in the summer, her department had intervened and ensured that extra engineers were on duty to service the trains at Liverpool Street.

And when it came to delays: "They're not just down to National Express, 70% were caused by Network Rail or other operators."

Ms Villiers blamed the "extensive programme of renewal work" to replace the overhead power cables. She warned that it wouldn't be finished until 2012 but said when it is, it would provide "real benefits for passengers".

Rail fares were going up, she said, to fund improvements and yes, some places would lose a few services but overall performance and capacity on the lines would improve.

"I don't believe National Express has operated unreasonably," she said.

It may seem that the concerns of Essex commuters fell on deaf ears but Ms Villiers was left in no doubt about the strength of feeling held by many who use the line. And she promised to keep a close eye on its future performance.

As for Mr Clark, she said that he had been found another place for his coffee and newspaper stand. Ms Patel says it's in the station car park and is far from satisfactory. She will continue to fight his case.

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