THE Mayor of London has been accused of "broken promises" after cutting opening hours at Tube ticket offices at weekends and off-peak hours.

On Sunday, opening hours at stations across Harrow were slashed by an average of 57 per cent, which London Underground said was a result of the popularity of Oyster cards.

But Navin Shah, London Assembly member for Brent and Harrow, said it was a contradiction of promises Boris Johnson made during his election campaign.

He said: “The mayor was elected on a clear promise to keep ticket offices open, yet here he is cutting far more than anything that was planned before.

“Passengers will feel less safe and more vulnerable in the daytime and late at night as a direct consequence of the Mayor's broken promises.”

Seven stations will close their afternoon and evening ticket office, while reduced off-peak hours apply to nearly all stations in Harrow.

Northwick Park is one of the stations worst affected, with opening hours slashed from 6.15am – 7.30pm to two peak-time periods of 7.30am – 10.15am and 3.30pm – 6.15pm.

In his pre-election transport manifesto, Mr Johnson pledged to ensure there was always a manned ticket office at every station.

"Local people feel it is important there is a manned ticket office at their station, as often there are not enough Oyster outlets in the local area.”

The changes to hours go ahead despite a number of strikes over the issue by Underground workers since the Mayor announced the plans last March.

Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union, said: “Passengers have experienced the worst week of chaos so far this year as the infrastructure fails under the combined pressure of staffing and maintenance cuts and gross mismanagement right from the top.

“On the network, the reality of the hidden drive towards de-staffing has left many stations without a single member of staff. London Underground is planning to leave a third of stations unstaffed for part of the day. So much for the Mayor’s promise that “no station will be left unstaffed at any time.”

Kulveer Ranger, the Mayor of London’s transport advisor, said: “Some of our ticket offices now regularly sell less than ten tickets an hour.

“We know Londoners would prefer to see staff on the gatelines and platforms where they are more visible, can provide greater reassurance and provide Londoners with the type of service a modern day Metro should provide.

“The changes we have made mean we will still have staff rostered on all stations while they are running services and will still have more staff on our stations than any other metro in the world.”