Wandsworth's leader has welcomed an announcement confirming additional services will soon be introduced on the District Line.

Following a consultation over proposed changes to the line, London Underground (LU) revealed an extra five trains will run on during the morning peak, from Wimbledon Station into central London, from December.

The news will be a welcome boost to commuters in the borough who rely on the heavily congested service running through Wimbledon Park, Southfields and East Putney stations.

Wandsworth Council backed a campaign for the proposal to get the go-ahead when it was first put out to public consultation earlier this year. Nearly 18,000 customers, businesses and stakeholders took part, with almost 80 per cent supporting the changes.

Council leader, Ravi Govindia, said: "This is terrific news for people living in Putney, Southfields and Wimbledon who have had to put up with increasingly overcrowded trains in recent years.

"They can now look forward to a more frequent service and more room to breath on their way into work.

"The new timetable will also help to reduce frustrating bottlenecks at Earl's Court Station and improve service reliability on the entire line."

To pave the way for the change, LU will be scrapping the weekday shuttle service between Kensington Olympia and High Street Kensington.

LU claims the move will reduce delays and provide capacity for an additional 4,000 passengers every weekday morning.

In addition, there will be further capacity for more than 800 people on services to Ealing Broadway in the evening and an enhanced late evening service on the Wimbledon branch with six trains per hour until 11.30pm.

The Olympia shuttle service will continue to operate at weekends and special services will operate to serve major weekday events at the Olympia exhibition centre.