Relief as Tube strike is called off

A 72-hour strike which would have seriously disrupted services on the London Underground was called off last night after an improved pay offer was made by management.

About 1,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union were due to walk out from noon today in a dispute with maintenance company Tube Lines over pay and conditions.

The strike would have hit services on the Piccadilly, Northern and Jubilee lines, affecting the travel plans of thousands of football fans heading to Wembley for tonight's friendly international between England and the Czech Republic.

The RMT said it had suspended the walkout and would put the new offer to members in a ballot with a recommendation that they accepted the improved deal.

The RMT had also called a 72-hour strike for 3 September and which will now almost certainly not go ahead. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, had urged both sides to settle their differences over what he described as "a relatively trivial dispute".