London: Bosses hit out at 'absurd' work from home guidance as number of tube passengers drop

London commuters descended upon the city in their droves on Monday morning but not in their usual masses, as new working from home guidelines kicked into force.

The number of tube passengers are reported to have dropped by as much as 18 per cent by Transport for London, following government advice issued by Boris Johnson in response to a surge in Omicron cases.

It said there were one million journeys on the Underground by 10am, compared with about 1.22m on Monday last week.

This is about 46 per cent of the normal number of commuters on the tube on a Monday morning in London, compared with pre-pandemic levels.

Andrew Monk, CEO of VSA capital, has hit out at the 'absurd' guidance and says that his staff have been asking to come to the office despite the Prime Minister's move.

He told the Daily Mail: "I'm not very happy with it. It's a bit absurd that this time last year you were told: go to work but don't party. Now we're being told: party but don't go to work. It doesn't make sense does it. We've got all our staff back and they're actually very happy to be back. They're disappointed that they are being told, sorry, you've got to work from home if necessary.

'Most of them have said: Can we come in? We've kept the office open but it will be a skeleton crew. We are following the government's guidelines but it's obviously disappointing".

Tube platforms across the capital city as well as stations that are often densely populated during rush hour times, such as London Victoria, Waterloo and Paddington, felt almost empty in comparison this morning.

People in the city have noticed the stark contrast, with one tweeting: "I’m slap bang in the middle of London and roads are unbelievably quiet now".

Another commuter tweeted: "Work from home order well and truly back. Tube is absolutely empty this morning".

The working from home guidance has been introduced by Boris Johnson in order to slow the spread of the Covid variant, but some critics including his own party MPs feel the advice in another step towards a new lockdown.

The Prime Minister has also been criticised for allowing Christmas parties and dinners to go ahead, yet advises against commuting and working in the office.