NORTH Londoners face another day of commuter misery as thousands of Tube workers stage a 24-hour strike today, for the fourth time since August.

Members of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) and the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) walked out at 6.30pm last night (Sunday).

All lines are at least partly suspended and up to 80 stations are closed. The Jubilee Line is suspended between Wembley Park and Stanmore and the Circle Line is completely suspended.

The unions say workers are striking over plans to cut 800 ticket office jobs and close ticket offices because it will endanger passengers’ safety. The RMT said the latest strike - the fourth since August - was over LU’s refusal to halt the station job cuts for 12 weeks until a thorough “safety evaluation” is carried out.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: “It is incredible that LU management would not agree to a 12-week suspension of the cuts to allow a thorough safety evaluation on the impact on each station of their cuts plans. That shows complete and utter contempt for the safety of both their passengers and their staff.”

But Tube bosses say the unions have declined an offer to discuss the cuts proposal.

Mike Brown, managing director of London Underground and London Rail said: “We have been consulting with the union leaderships on this for more than six months, trying to establish what specific safety concerns they may now have. We offered a further six weeks to discuss our plans to see if there are any local issues which need to be addressed, but the leaders of the RMT and TSSA prefer to attack the people of London yet again and attempt to hold us all to ransom.

“If they are serious about resolving this issue, they should immediately call off their totally unnecessary strike, which will achieve nothing whatsoever. We will talk to them right now on any genuine safety issues they have. We want an end to this dispute and believe that a resolution will be only achieved through talks, not by further threats to disrupt London.”

A spokesman for Transport for London (TfL) said good services are operating on the bus network, Docklands Light Railway (DLR), and London Overground. Extra bus and boat services have been provided. Passengers are urged to plan their journeys before travelling at:www.tfl.gov.uk.