Richard Branson is facing a backlash after saying that lateness is "the one thing that annoys me in life", despite one in five of his trains arriving late.

On Monday the Virgin tycoon wrote a blog on the Virgin website in which he criticized others for being late in a post titled "The importance of being on time".

On a blog posted on the Virgin website Mr Branson said: "There’s very little that annoys me in life, but people turning up late really does irritate me.

It certainly reminds me of my dad’s wise comments. "Thomas Chandler Haliburton said that “punctuality is the soul of business”.

I wouldn’t say it is the soul, but it’s an important part of the package. It shows you are serious, and it shows you are organised. But, most importantly, it shows you are respectful of other people’s time and their value."