Virgin Trains has apologised after being accused of acting like the “Gestapo” when a businessman exploited a loophole to cut more than £250 off the price of his ticket.

Steve Morrissey, 32, the director of a software company, was accused of fare-dodging after booking his 7.38am train from Lancaster to London on Tuesday for £93.

But he was accused of getting on the train at the next stop, Preston, which is 25 miles nearer to the capital, where the price is £350.

The father-of-one, from Bispham, near Blackpool, normally drives to Preston when commuting to London, where prices vary between £250 and £500 for a first-class return.

Needing to arrange travel at the last minute for a business meeting the following day, he checked the train fares online and decided to save himself £257 by booking his ticket and driving instead to Lancaster.

But on the train he was accused by ticket collectors of getting on at Preston, ordered to buy another ticket or be fined, and detained at Euston where British Transport Police were waiting.

Mr Morrissey said: “It was not a pleasant experience. You can obviously feel people are listening in. It looked like I'm a sort of criminal. I've never been as embarrassed in my life.

“Throughout the entire journey, I just felt like a criminal, all the way. When I arrived at Euston there were three members of staff hiding around the entrance, it was obvious what was going on.

“I was just stood there on the platform at Euston with two British Transport Police and three Virgin staff.”

Mr Morrissey refused to buy another ticket and protested his innocence until CCTV was checked and showed him getting on the train at Lancaster as he had told train staff.

After a 40-minute delay he was then given a hasty apology and allowed to go on his way – but by then had missed his business meeting in the capital.

Mr Morrissey said Virgin staff were cracking down on passengers after the big difference in ticket prices between Preston and Lancaster on the West Coast Main Line was publicised recently.

Another passenger claimed he was threatened with arrest for buying a cheaper single ticket from Lancaster to London, but actually getting on the train at Preston station.

Mr Morrissey said: “It feels like some sort of Gestapo of Virgin trains at Lancaster. The amount of ticket checks, platform and train announcements saying 'There will be a full ticket check carried out now'.”

Virgin Trains say that despite the difference in ticket prices, there is a method to the madness.

The difference in charges relates to a reduction in fares for customers travelling to destinations north of Preston rather than an increase in fares for those travelling to/from Preston and destinations south of that, the company said.

Virgin has relaxed peak restrictions on some of its longer distance routes where there are more leisure travellers who are less likely to be commuting into London in the busy peak period – in cases such as this, the cheap price would encourage customers for day trips to London from places like Lancaster.

But where there are more business travellers who need to travel to and from London, such as from Preston, the prices are higher at peak times due to the demand and to manage the flow of passengers – a practice employed by all train operators.

Cheaper fares are available from commuter towns if passengers can travel outside peak times.

Mr Morrissey was given an apology by Virgin Trains and offered two free first-class return journey tickets.

A spokesman for the company said: “Virgin Trains has an excellent reputation for customer service and we want everyone to have the best experience possible.

“Our teams make sure people have the right ticket for their journey in order to protect the majority of our customers from the actions of a small minority who try to avoid paying their way.

“However it's clear that our people made a mistake in this case and we are sorry for Mr Morrissey's experience. We have been in touch to apologise and offer him a gesture of goodwill which he has accepted.”

An overhaul of Britain's rail fares is to be trialled to make it easier to buy the cheapest tickets after the Commons Transport Select Committee published a damning report which stated that “unfairness, complexity and a lack of transparency” in rail ticketing have been apparent for at least a decade.

Rail passengers faced with eye-watering fares are having to carry piles of different tickets to save money on their journeys.

A football fan last week received 56 separate tickets when he booked a split ticket between Newcastle and Oxford for an FA Cup match, and tweeted a picture of the deck of tickets laid out on his bed.