Diss rail station is celebrating after it achieved top marks in a mystery shopping exercise which also saw an employee recognised for his 'excellent' customer service.

Adrian Martins, who lives in Tivetshall St Margaret, received a score of 100pc for his customer service after being secretly assessed by a mystery shopper who found him to be 'friendly, helpful and professional.'

Mr Martins, who has worked at train stations across Norfolk and Suffolk for six years, has worked in the ticket office at Diss station for three years.

The 52-year-old said: 'I'm very pleased. It's nice to get recognition. I really enjoy what I do and it's a nice station to work at because the people are pleasant.'

Alan Trett, Abellio Greater Anglia's area customer service manager, said: 'I would like to congratulate Adrian on his perfect score. He is a great asset to my team and I would like to thank him for his efforts to deliver consistently excellent customer service to passengers using Diss station.'

Customer service and quality standards at Abellio Greater Anglia stations are assessed on a regular basis and Mr Martins was assessed as part of a mystery shopping exercise carried out between October 12 and November 8, which also checks that stations are meeting the standards customers expect of them.

The station achieved a score of 100pc for good information provision to customers with criteria for scoring points marked on visible signage and directions, a clear public address system and regular announcements, customer information screens and local bus and taxi information made available.

The news comes after figures were released last week by the Office of Rail Regulation that revealed Diss to be the third busiest station in Norfolk with figures showing there were an estimated 675,527 entries and exits based on information from ticket sales between April 2013 and March 2014, behind Norwich's figure of 4,139,820 and King's Lynn's 913,458.

Abellio Greater Anglia's customer service director, Andrew Goodrum, said: 'I am delighted to see that Diss has achieved the top score for the information provided to customers.

'Our teams are working hard to provide excellent customer service at all times and good information provision at stations is a key element of this.'

'The station sets a great example which I know others will be aiming to follow.'

The report from the Office of Rail Regulation also showed an estimated 178, 034 entries and exits were made at Wymondham station, 154, 172 at Attleborough and 388 at Spooner Row.

What do you think of the service at Diss station? Email dma.letters@archant.co.uk