Watchdog critical of tube advertsLondon Underground has been criticised by the Advertising Standards Authority

London Underground has been criticised by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for a series of 'misleading' newspaper adverts.

The ASA upheld six out of seven complaints made by Bob Kiley, London's Commissioner for Transport. Kiley claimed that the adverts were "misleading by inaccuracy, ambiguity, exaggeration and omission".

The promises made in the adverts included, "We'll spend £16 billion to fix the Tube over the next 15 years", and, "Bakerloo line - 7.5km of new track helping increase the peak hour service".

The watchdog felt that the statements were inaccurate as they relied on Public Private Partnership (PPP) contracts being signed, which they have not been.

Tube bosses were advised to "take more care in future when preparing similar advertisements".

July 17, 2002 12:01