London October Tube strike cancelled following fresh talks

A planned strike by staff on the London Underground has been called off following progress in talks, the union Aslef has said.

Tube drivers were due to walk out at midnight on the 5 October to stage a 24-hour protest.

The dispute was over working conditions for drivers.

Finn Brennan, a representative from the union Aslef, said that "sufficient progress" had been made in the talks to allow the strike to be called off.

If the strike had gone ahead, all lines of the underground would have been closed leading to major disruption for commuters.

Extra buses, shuttle services and Santander Cycle hubs had been prepared to help ease possible chaos on the roads.

More than 88% of workers in the Aslef union voted in favour of the strike.

The row had been over letting drivers work four-day weeks and fewer weekends.

Talks between Aslef, Transport for London and the Underground authorities had been ongoing to help break the deadlock.

However, a separate strike by the RMT union members at Southern, Merseyrail, Arriva Rail North and Greater Anglia on Thursday over the scrapping of guards is still set to go ahead.

Finn Brennan said: "I am pleased to say that the our negotiating team believes they we have made sufficient progress in talks at Acas to recommend to the Aslef executive committee that the strike called for Thursday be suspended.

"We have always been prepared to keep talking to resolve this dispute but Aslef always has, and always will, insist that management stick to agreements they make with us.

"Our ballot remains live and we will not hesitate to call action in the future if needed to ensure all the commitments made are fully delivered."