Cancer sufferers in the south of England are being forced to give up treatment at London hospitals because of the difficulty of travelling on crisis-hit Southern Rail, patients have warned.

The beleaguered train company yesterday lost a High Court bid to stop train drivers walking out for three days next week, giving the green light to strikes that will bring the entire Southern network to a halt and leave 300,000 passengers unable to travel.

One patient told The Telegraph that the ongoing industrial action had given him no choice but to withdraw from a cancer drug trial, because of the difficulty of attending appointments.