THE Government has tried to "re-write history" by down-playing the success of the East Coast Mainline in public ownership, Labour has claimed.

Shadow transport minister Lilian Greenwood said ministers were so keen to privatise the route between London and Edinburgh, they redacted a prospectus for the proposed sell-off.

The line was placed under public ownership in the autumn of 2009 but it is due to be transferred back into private hands in two years' time.

As part of the privatisation, a prospectus has been drawn up outlining details of the sell-off.

Ms Greenwood said Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin should not try to force through the privatisation.

But Ms Greenwood told a debate in Westminster Hall that a number of changes had been made to the report to make it appear that public ownership of the line had not been successful.

She said: "It is clear that, at a late stage, a decision was taken to alter the positive references to East Coast's performance since 2009. So the sentence 'staff engagement is at an all time high' was altered to 'staff engagement has improved'."

She added ministers were now trying to "rush through a botched privatisation".