London Underground bosses have apologised to a schoolboy after he was forced to scoot seven miles home when staff refused to let him on a Tube train.
Max Cartoux, 17, was returning home to Wandsworth from his school in Islington - a journey which usually takes him under an hour.
But the teenager was told by staff at Old Street station that he could not take his scooter through because it would take up too much space.
He then scooted to another station but was also barred from entry because he was travelling in rush hour.
Max had no money, just his travel card, so scooted all the way home, arriving two and a half hours later, by which time his mum was worried sick because he hadn't been able to call her because his mobile phone had run out of charge.
Max told the Evening Standard: "There is no motor on the scooter or anything like that - it was really hard work. My feet were hurting and the soles of my shoes were worn right through. I didn't have a penny on me so I was stuck and had no way of getting home apart from jumping on my scooter.
"It was really painful and unnecessary really. I had no idea that there was a ban on taking scooters on Underground trains in rush hour. It was pretty mean-spirited of them to stop me. "
London Underground chief operating officer Phil Hufton said: "On this particular occasion we could have considered this situation differently and allowed this young person to carry his scooter on to the Tube. "We would like to offer our sincere apologies for our action on this occasion."
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