KEN Livingstone will use a visit to Rayners Lane to hit out at Boris Johnson's Tube ticket office cuts this morning.

The former London mayor will accuse his successor of breaking a manifesto pledge, by reducing ticket office opening hours, ahead of a staff strike starting at 5pm today.

Mr Livingstone, who is fighting former Bethnal Green and Bow MP Oona King to become Labour candidate in the capital's next mayoral elections, called on Mr Johnson to meet union officials in a bid to get the strike called off.

He said: “Boris Johnson gave a cast-iron commitment on protecting ticket office opening hours which he has spectacularly broken, hitting outer London hardest, where 90 per cent of the stations affected are located.

“The mayor's office wants Londoners to believe this is about a handful of stations where less than ten tickets are sold every hour, but these account for a tiny fraction of the dozens of stations affected by the cuts.”

Campaigners say there needs to be staff at Tube stations to help tourists and other passengers in need of advice, and the battle in Harrow has been fought particularly hard by Councillor James Bond, an employee at North Harrow Tube station.

He began his campaign during Mr Livingstone's reign as mayor when London Underground planned to close the North Harrow, West Harrow and Sudbury Hill ticket offices.

Cllr Bond, with the support of thousands of local residents, only won that fight after Mr Johnson was elected and axed the proposals.