Passengers are openly using crack cocaine while riding the London Underground.

Pictures have been posted of a man taking the drug in a passenger-filled carriage.

The taker was described as “behaving oddly” before trying to light up a crack pipe.

One witness said the man was “as high as a kite” and had a “gormless grin expression”, as well as “phlegming and spitting on the floor near-constantly”.

London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan is now under pressure from all political sides to act quickly and decisively.

Susan Hall, a Conservative member of the London Assembly, said:

“We need to get a grip on this.

“The problem is that the British Transport Police, who are not within Khan’s jurisdiction, can’t be in every carriage on every train.

“It’s just impossible.

“The problem is London feels as if it’s getting more and more dangerous and this spills onto the railways.

“When you’ve got a Mayor who’s allowed our Metropolitan Police to lose 1,700 officers, and yet he professes that the safety of London is his top concern, I’m afraid we’re in a whole new world.”

“He [Khan] should be making savings elsewhere to make sure we have a police force that is properly funded.

Bob Seely, a former Tory minister, said:

“This is one of the many reasons I despair of the Mayor of London.

“He cares more for virtue-signalling and identity politics than he does for the safety of Londoners.

“We need more police on the Tube.

“Khan is a terrible Mayor.”

Lee Anderson, the Reform UK chief whip, said:

“Sadiq Khan has been a disaster for London.

“The city’s more dangerous, more expensive and unrecognisable under his watch.

“He’s failed on crime, failed on housing and failed Londoners.

“His time in City Hall must come to an end.”

Crime rose by 13.1 per cent on the Tube in 2024.

Violent attacks were up 20 pr cent.

Heidi Alexander, the Transport Secretary, said the Tube was a “relatively low-crime environment”.

Ms Alexander told LBC’s Nick Ferrari:

“That situation that you described with someone smoking crack cocaine on the London Underground is obviously totally unacceptable.

“I know it will concern Sadiq Khan and the TfL Commissioner Andy Lord as much as it would concern me.

“I think the point to make here is that the transport network in London, and indeed across the country across the whole, is a low-crime environment.

“Clearly, any increase in the number of incidents, whether on the Tube, on buses, on the trams in London, will be tackled by the British Transport Police alongside the enforcement officers working on the Tube.”

A TfL spokesman said:

“We want all customers to feel safe when travelling and we understand the alarm this kind of behaviour could cause.

“We are working with the police, specialist teams and other agencies to help move vulnerable people away from our network and into help and support.”