Wit's end on London Underground

There is a very large transport network operator in London that is increasingly out of step with the people it ferries around. The Londoners I know - and I include all the blow ins from around the globe in this group - are savvy, independent, resourceful and grown up. It takes, after all, a fair degree of grit and tenacity to stick it in the smoke.

On the whole, people in London negotiate and survive a thousand different challenges every day. It's a miracle of cooperation and tolerance. The resilience needed is couple with fair peppering of humour too. Tolerance? Cooperation,? Humour? Is this really the London experience we know and love? Well actually yes.

Which makes it all the more dispiriting to learn that the voice over artist responsible for underground announcements has had her contract terminated for allegedly having a giggle at TfL's expense. So offended were average Londoners that her own site fell over under the sheer weight of traffic, rushing online to listen to her very funny skits delivered in the style of a tube announcement.

They maintain the decision to end her contract was not the spoof announcements but still went on to say "Emma is a bit silly to go round slagging off her client's services."

Witless, politically correct, intolerant and uncooprative. Values you should expect from the world's most famous metro system. 2012 here we come.