A TUBE line through Harrow and Brent is the first casualty of the tube strike that started today.

The Bakerloo Line has been part suspended between Harrow and Wealdstone and Queens Park stations with minor delays on the rest of the line.

Transport for London (TfL) is blaming the industrial action for the disruption after maintenance workers became the first to walk out at 5pm this afternoon.

The first stage of the walk out has left no staff available to repair the lines following signal failures.

Remaining staff will walk out in a second wave at 9pm this evening.

The move, by trade union the RMT, will leave millions of Londoners struggling to get to work on buses, bicycles and in cars tomorrow morning.

The strike was sparked by a row with TfL and London Mayor Boris Johnson over planned cuts to tube station ticket office opening times that have put 800 jobs on the line.

Sinnathurai Kulasabanathan, of Exeter Road, Rayners Lane, said his 16-year-old son Kavian is due to start sixth form at City of London college tomorrow after achieving a stunning 13 A* grades at GCSE.

But the teenager's introduction to post-16 education could be ruined if he cannot find a way into central London.

Mr Kulasabanathan said: “My son travels to central London everyday and we are not ready to send him to school tomorrow.

“He got one of the best results in the country and he is starting his new school tomorrow and we are thinking how do we send him to school?”

Phyllis Long, 83, and husband Dennis, 87, met Ken Livingstone this morning as he protested against the cuts outside Rayners Lane station.

Mrs Long, of Kings Road, South Harrow, said: “I think the cuts are wrong. The station should be patrolled with what goes on these days. The strike will inconvenience me because if we can't get back this afternoon that will be bad.”