Tube strike threat over driver

Tube commuters are facing more strike action - this time over a row after a driver was allegedly caught reading a newspaper while driving his Central line train.

London Underground wants to settle the matter at local level - effectively a rap over the driver's knuckles - but the RMT union is demanding that disciplinary proceedings against the driver are dropped.

Union officials accuse managers of "heavy-handed" tactics in bringing the charge in the first place.

The row is exacerbated by a more serious incident when a District line driver was sacked for "deliberately" jumping a red signal at busy Fulham Broadway station.

The rapidly escalating dispute now threatens to get out of control with the RMT, responsible for last month's 24-hour stoppage and which threatens more in a separate pay row, ordering a strike ballot. The union is demanding the sacked driver be reinstated and that any proceedings, however low-key, are halted against the Central line driver.

Voting will take place at the respective District and Central line depots of both drivers in a move which could cause disruption on two of the Tube's busiest lines used by more than 1.3 million passengers a day.

The new ballot has infuriated LU which is refusing to take back the sacked driver. Talks are taking place today between LU and RMT negotiators in an effort to settle the dispute.