Commuters faced “chaotic” queues on the capital’s busiest shopping street tonight as Oxford Circus Tube station was closed due to overcrowding.
Pictures showed a swarm of passengers crowding around the entrance to the station after it closed at about 6pm.
The station was shut intermittently as part of a standard procedure to prevent overcrowding inside.
But disgruntled commuters took to social media to complain that the station closures cause crowds to spill out onto the roads into traffic.
Apad Lukacs tweeted: “Don't even try to use the tube at #OxfordCircus #London.”
Jonathan De Mello shared a picture of the crowds and wrote: “Oxford Circus Tube five mins ago - can't wait for Crossrail to come and alleviate some of this."
Theo Leggett: “@TfL closes Oxford Circus tube again – cue chaos, people walking in front of buses etc. Done for ‘safety reasons’."
Iris Gomez tweeted: “Oxford circus = Hell.”
Transport for London tweeted to say the station had been forced to open and close intermittently due to overcrowding.
A TfL spokesman said the closure was a standard procedure to avoid overcrowding.
Plans to pedestrianise the world famous shopping street were unveiled by London Mayor Sadiq Khan earlier this year.
