Drunken officer halts Tube

A police officer has been arrested for being drunk and disorderly after walking into a London Underground tunnel at one of the busiest stations in the capital.

The officer had to be removed by British Transport Police at Tottenham Court Road station, causing Central line services to be suspended for 30 minutes.

Police were called by London Underground staff at 11.26pm yesterday after members of the public saw the man climb onto the tracks and walk into the westbound tunnel.

An eyewitness, who did not wish to be named, said the man was among a group of off-duty officers. She said: "It was pub throwing-out time and they had obviously been for a night out on the town. One of them climbed onto the tracks and into the tunnel. The other two stayed on the platform, flashing their Met IDs everywhere and clearing everybody out.

"The platform was packed - nobody could believe it. My journey home has been completely messed up."

A BTP spokesman said: "We had reports that a man jumped off the platform and ran down the tunnel. We closed the line down and sent four officers to recover the man.

"He was an off-duty police officer. He is the only person we are considering charges against." He said the man had been arrested for being drunk and disorderly and disrupting a line. He was being held at Tottenham Court Road police station.

An LU spokeswoman said: "Someone was found walking through the tunnel, causing services to be suspended. BTP went down and found somebody there. They took them back up to ground level and services resumed at 11.56pm."