London Underground: 'Measures in place' to prevent overcrowding

Timetables have been changed to prevent a repeat of overcrowding at an east London Tube station, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said.

Footage of a crowded Canning Town Tube platform showed passengers squeezing on to a Jubilee Line train on Thursday.

Mr Shapps said the responsibility was with Transport for London (TfL), but said he immediately sought "solutions" after seeing the clips.

TfL said it was doing everything it could in terms of social distancing.

The rush-hour crowding on Thursday was due to a defective train and staff absences, TfL added.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Mr Shapps said: "Today, timetables have been changed. Some trains won't be stopping in order to prevent the overcrowding; the c2c trains that run into Canning Town - their timetables are being moved."

Mr Shapps said he had also urged construction companies to stagger shift start times to avoid workers having to travel at the same time.

"We have spoken to the construction companies because of lot of the workers are construction workers at that time of day. We want to get timings moved so people don't start to work at the same time," he said.

British Transport Police officers have been deployed to the station to manage any further crowding, he said.

London Underground's Nick Dent said: "We are doing everything we can to help ensure those who need to travel for legally permitted reasons are able to do so in a safe way and maintain social distancing.

"We urge passengers to travel between 08:15 and 16:00 and after 17:30 on weekdays, which are significantly quieter times on the network."