Rail services on the East Coast Main Line will be brought back under public control.

The £3.3bn franchise agreement with Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC) has been terminated, its majority shareholder Stagecoach Group said.

The firm, which owns 90% of VTEC, said it was "surprised and disappointed" that the UK Government chose not to award it a new deal to continue running services on the London to Edinburgh route.

Trains will be run by the Department for Transport (DfT) through an operator of last resort (OLR).

Stagecoach pledged to "work constructively with the DfT and the OLR in the weeks ahead to ensure a professional transfer to the new arrangements".

In November 2014, Virgin Trains East Coast - a joint venture between Stagecoach and Virgin - was awarded the franchise to run trains for eight years.

Stagecoach reported losses on the line and in November last year transport minister Chris Grayling announced that the franchise would be terminated in 2020 to enable it to become a public-private railway.

VTEC is the third private operator to fail to complete the full length of a contract to run services on the East Coast route.

GNER was stripped of the route in 2007 after its parent company suffered financial difficulties, while National Express withdrew in 2009.

Services were run by the DfT for six years up to VTEC taking over in 2015.