Fury at Tube closures

Commuters and businesses reacted with fury today to London Underground's plans to close sections of the Tube's busiest line for up to two months.

Many passengers would be left stranded if the plan goes ahead to shut seven sections of the Northern line for urgent engineering work because of a backlog of vital repairs.

Small businesses near stations which rely on rush-hour crowds say they would be devastated by the closures, which were revealed yesterday by Tube managing director Tim O'Toole. Anita Schiavo, 28, a primary school teacher from Colliers Wood, said it could force her into abandoning public transport. "I would probably have to buy a car to get to my school in Balham," she said. "It's shocking."

Investment banker Simon Piercy, 27, estimates his journey to work from Colliers Wood to London Bridge would take 45 minutes extra. He said: "It will be an absolute nightmare around here because we depend on the Northern line so much."

Rethi Levison, a 24-year-old environmental consultant from Tooting, said: "I can't even begin to explain how inconvenient it would be. I have to get to Westminster every day. We can't live without the Northern line in this part of London."

Estate agent Phil Burgess, who works at CJames and Co Ltd in Colliers Wood, said rents for properties in areas around the station closures would be hit. He said: "Certainly people looking for short-term lets are going to be put off."

Some businesses say they may be forced to close if stations are shut for two months. Ravi Indran, 42, manager of the Costcutter convenience store next to Colliers Wood station, said: "About 90 per cent of my business is from commuters. We could be in serious trouble. We may be forced to go out of business."

Budgens, next to Tooting Broadway, would also suffer. Manager Priya Soyza said: "I rely on commuters. It will hit me badly and I would have to look at cutbacks on jobs. It makes me so angry - why have they been allowed to fall so behind with the works?"

Michael Carmel, a sales negotiator at Home Estate Agency on Haverstock Hill, said: "It's going to have a huge impact. I'm sure it will affect prices and I'm really worried."