Voice of London Underground’s ‘mind the gap’ announcement sacked for criticising the Tube network

Emma Clarke, the woman behind the voice that warns millions of commuters on London Underground every day to "mind the gap", has been sacked after she criticised the network.

Clarke, professional voice-over artist, has been recording messages for London's Tube since 1999, including reading the trains' stops and providing passengers with service updates.

However, a series of spoof announcements posted on her own website, along with an interview with The Mail on Sunday, where she told the paper she avoided using the Tube whenever possible, angered her employer, Transport for London, who subsequently sacked her.

"The thought of being stuck in the Tube with strangers for minutes on end and having to listen to endless repeated messages of my own voice fills me with horror," she told the paper.

She said using the service every day had been "dreadful".

Dan Hodges, a spokesman for London Underground, said Clarke's attack on the Tube had crossed the line. "We wouldn't employ somebody to promote our services who simultaneously criticizes those services," he said.