London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is offering free travel to holidaymakers and others making an unplanned return to Britain following wildfires on Rhodes and Corfu.

Publicly-run operator LNER will give free Standard travel on any of its services along the East Coast route for passengers who have flown back to the UK on a different day than they originally booked or to a different airport from their home location.

The fires have been raging for the last week, and are particularly intense due to the heatwave affecting the area, strong winds and the warming climate. Around nineteen thousand people have been evacuated from the islands so far, and the British government is advising those who wish to return home to avoid the fires to contact their flight operator.

LNER serves more than fifty stations along the East Coast route, totalling 956 miles. Its destinations include major towns and cities between London, the East Midlands, Yorkshire, the North East of England and Scotland.

The offer is available between today (Tuesday 25 July) and Monday 7 August. Travellers who wish to take advantage of this offer will need to present their stamped passport and airline boarding card confirming travel from one of the two Greek islands within the previous twenty-four hours.

David Horne, Managing Director at LNER, said: “We recognise this is a difficult time for many people in Greece as wildfires continue to grip the Islands of Rhodes and Corfu. At LNER we feel it is the right thing to do to assist those people returning to the UK to make their way home.”