Tens of thousands held up by Northern line suspension

Tens of thousands of Tube commuters suffered major disruption today after the Northern line was suspended through central London during the morning peak.

Trains were halted between Kennington and Camden Town when the signals failed at Charing Cross from the 5.30 am start of service.

The Northern is one of the busiest lines on the network carrying more than 650,000 passengers a day.

Services resumed shortly before 9 am but with delays. London Underground (LU) ran shuttle services between Brixton and Kennington and between Camden Town and Edgware and High Barnet.

Commuters using London Overground services suffered severe peak time delays between Highbury & Islington and Stratford after a passenger was taken ill on a train at Hackney Central.

The first of four Tube strikes - in protest over the sacking of Northern line driver Arwyn Thomas - will hit services Sunday evening with the threat of knock-on disruption into Monday morning's peak.

The strike by 1,500 drivers belonging to the RMT union, will run from 9pm Sunday until 3 am Monday meaning trains could be out of place for the start of the week rush hour.

An LU spokesman predicted "little or no impact" to services Monday morning. Three more strike are planned to begin Monday 27 June which will also those heading to and from the Wimbledon Tennis Championships.

Talks this week at Acas, the conciliation service, failed to resolve the long running dispute. Thomas was sacked for alleged abusive behaviour towards collagues, a charge he denies.

The RMT says the "real reason" behind the sacking is because Thomas is an admitted activist who took a major part in organising strikes last year.