£50 fines for feet on seats

Rail and Tube passengers who put feet on seats or play music too loudly face £50 on-the-spot fines from British Transport Police.

Senior officers recognise that commuters often feel intimidated by low-level bad behaviour. They believe it also leads to more serious disorder and to clashes when troublemakers are confronted.

Officers will mount extra patrols as part of a major drive to reduce fear and cut crime on London's transport network.

The fines will vary according to the offence, rising to £80, and will double if not paid within 21 days.

Commuters today welcomed the crackdown and some called for it to be extended.

Dahlia Simms, 34, from Earl's Court, said: "The last thing you want is someone's dirty shoes on your seat but you can't say anything because you just don't know if you'll get stabbed. Drinking beer on the Tube should also be banned."

British Transport Police assistant chief constable Steve Thomas said: "People who put their feet on the seats are showing a lack of consideration for others. Similarly when passengers inflict their music on everyone else either by playing it out loud or just too loudly through their earphones it is not only annoying but can also be offensive.

"British Transport Police officers will not tolerate such behaviour and will intervene. It is unacceptable and disrespectful for passengers to impose themselves on others in this way.

"Our public spaces, trains, Tubes, stations, should not be places where people feel intimidated or offended by the behaviour or others."

Mr Thomas added: "Such thoughtless, antisocial behaviour is particularly intimidating if those involved are part of a large group.

"Our officers will be making people aware of the potential impact their behaviour has and seeking to ensure that they modify it accordingly. We would also encourage passengers to report anything that makes them feel intimidated."

Some passengers, particularly those judged to be acting "thoughtlessly" rather than deliberately offensively, will be initially be given a verbal warning and told to improve their conduct. Other offenders will, however, be fined for disorder.

The drive against antisocial behaviour forms part of wider attempt by Transport for London to improve passenger safety. To achieve this, it has drawn up a new Community Safety Plan which lists the reduction of anti-social behaviour and the fear of crime among its key targets for the coming year.

The plan also highlights the success of a similar "zero tolerance" in New York.

Annalie York, 26, a business development manager, from Fulham, said: "I hate it when groups of youths, girls or boys, play their music really loudly through tinny mobile phone speakers. I also can't stand sitting down in your clean work clothes on a dirty seat where someone's shoes have been."

On Merseyside, local train operator Merseyrail has prosecuted 250 passengers for putting their feet on train seats although in one controversial case Chester magistrates let off a student who had been taken to court.