Passengers travelling to and from the city have reported human excrement all over the rails and sleepers near the station's entrance.

And they say the faeces stays there all day without any apparent attempt to clear it up.

Shelah Eakins, aged 63, from Cwmdonkin, Swansea, said: "It was absolutely horrendous.

"We were waiting for our trains at 8.30am in the morning, and the tracks were covered in human excrement.

"There were millions of flies and the smell was disgusting."

Ms Eakins, who had been travelling on a day trip to Shrewsbury with her two sisters, said the mess had still not been cleared up more than 12 hours later when they returned home.

"This was just yards from the entrance," she said.

"There are all sorts of public health issues, apart from the impression it gives to people arriving in Swansea."

One of the most distinctive features of Swansea railway station is the slogan Ambition is critical, which is embossed into the paving just outside the entrance.

It was immortalised in cult 1997 film Twin Town, which also famously boasted an arguably more apposite description of Swansea as "a pretty s****y city".

Network Rail, which is responsible for maintaining the tracks, blamed the problem on rail users who had used train toilets while in the station, contrary to signs instructing travellers not to do so.

A spokesman added: "The tracks are due to be cleaned this week, and will be jet-washed later in the month.

"We cannot clean the tracks every day because we would have to close the railway and stop the trains.

"The problem lies with people flushing the toilets when the train is in the station, which they should not be doing.

"It is not a nice thing for us to be having to clean, and even though it is unsightly, there is no danger to the public and there are no significant environmental problems."

Reader comments

The entrance along the tracks coming into swansea is a disgrace and gives a bad first image to travellers and tourists. The worst part is the rubbish that has been thrown over the back of a Garage and now looks like a scrap yard. First impressions last, so c'mon network rail and Arriva, clean it up and impose fines on the Garage or other business' who use the tracks as a dumping ground
Andy, Burry Port

I didn't realise that train toilets still flushed straight out on the track. How backward is that.
Paul, Llangennech

You might ask why in this day and age we still have trains that flush straight onto the rails. Is this the third world? And Swansea station is out of date, dark and covered in grime and is an absolute embarrassment to the city. As is the bus station.
James, Swansea

How absolutely revolting that this should be happening AT ALL!!! WHY are people using the toilets on the train at a terminus?? People either arriving or departing from Swansea High Street station should be using the toilets at the station. Does this station have toilets for travellers to use?? Or, perhaps, this is just another examples of people's bad habits which, unfortunately, we all seem to have to tolerate in this 'anything goes' society.
Marilynn Osment, Somerset