A schoolboy was left with painful feet and worn-out shoes after he was forced to scoot seven miles home when London Underground staff refused to let him on a Tube train.
Max Cartoux, 17, was returning home to Wandsworth from his school in Islington — a journey which usually takes him under an hour.
But the teenager was told by staff at Old Street station that he could not take his scooter through because it would take up too much space. He then scooted to Bank to try his luck at another Northern line station but was also barred from entry because he was travelling in rush hour. The music student at the Point Blank school had no money and only enough charge on his phone to send a message to his parents saying that he was running late.
He arrived home two and a half hours later, with marks on the soles of his shoes from the friction of scooting. He said his parents had been worried that he had taken so long.
Max said: “There is no motor on the scooter or anything like that — it was really hard work. My feet were hurting and the soles of my shoes were worn right through. I didn’t have a penny on me so I was stuck and had no way of getting home apart from jumping on my scooter.
“It was really painful and unnecessary really. I had no idea that there was a ban on taking scooters on Underground trains in rush hour. It was pretty mean-spirited of them to stop me. ”
London Underground chief operating officer Phil Hufton said: “On this particular occasion we could have considered this situation differently and allowed this young person to carry his scooter on to the Tube.
“We would like to offer our sincere apologies for our action on this occasion.”
