RAIL privateer Southern was forced to say sorry yesterday for telling irate passengers to vent their fury at the rail workers the company has been attacking.

Alex Foulds, deputy chief operating officer of Southern owner Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), admitted its aggressive ad campaign telling travellers to blame rail union RMT for the firm’s own failings was a “mistake.”

GTR placed ads in newspapers attacking workers and posted an image online reading: “Let’s strike back” and urged people to send abuse to the RMT’s Twitter account.