A London Underground passenger has shared the moment he encountered a man openly smoking crack cocaine amid growing concern about rising crime levels on the Tube and on the capital's streets.
Violent crimes on the London Underground have been increasing steadily since Sadiq Khan became Mayor in 2016.
Since the start of 2016, Tube crime rates have more than doubled, from nine per every million journeys to more than 21 last March. Similarly, offences have risen on the Overground, DLR and Elizabeth line, which opened in 2022.
A MailOnline analyis shows that the capital's the most dangerous station per passenger is Poplar on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), near Canary Wharf.
Statistics collated by the British Transport Police (BTP) and TfL show 46 crimes were committed at the stop on the self-driving line last year. This equated to a rate of 58.7 offences for every million passengers.
Transport for London have acknowleged the recent crack smoking incident, which happened during a 'busy hour' and went viral after being shared on Reddit.
It occurred during rush hour when the passenger, who wished to remain anonymous, noticed other commuters hurriedly moving away from a man sitting across from him on the Tube.
Initially assuming the man might be homeless and people were simply avoiding the smell, the passenger was horrified when he realised the individual was attempting to light up crack cocaine in full view of fellow passengers.
'I was travelling back from work during a busy(ish) hour when I became aware that a number of people before me had started to get up and move away before what was normal for the next stop,' the commuter wrote on Reddit.
'I looked up and saw a dirty, scuffy-looking man opposite me and I initially thought that he was homeless and that other people were moving away because he smelt bad or something before realising that he was behaving oddly and attempting to light a small, metal pipe.