Next stop Shepherd's Pie: Cheery Tube stickers brighten up commute

Weary Underground commuters are being cheered up by a spate of “guerilla sticker attacks” that have turned Tube train notices into comedy material.

Travellers have spotted several recent changes to the traditional signs, including priority seating notices indicating that they are for “people who are overweight, conjoined or charming snakes” and warnings of “Don’t acknowledge fellow passengers or sustain eye contact beyond two seconds.”

Central Line maps turned Shepherd’s Bush into Shepherd’s Pie and Oxford Circus became Nightmare on Elm Street.

A few websites are selling stickers online and the BBC spoke to a man called James, from East London, who claimed he had sold more than 200 fake notices this year at around £2 a go.

James said he wanted commuters to “take back power” over their journeys.

“It’s a form of rebellion, whether it be due to the current climate of doom and gloom and people wanting to brighten their day,” he said.

“This is a bit of escapism and freedom that people can express relatively easily.”

But Tube bosses are not amused.

A spokesman for British Transport Police said the stickers were graffiti and “unwanted vandalism that causes criminal damage” and “will not be tolerated”.