Voice of the Tube silenced by LU

Emma Clarke has been working for LU for eight years

The woman who became the "Voice of the Tube" has been sacked after allegedly criticising London Underground (LU).

Voiceover artist Emma Clarke, 36, is the woman millions of Tube travellers hear warning them to "mind the gap".

Ms Clarke, from Altrincham, Greater Manchester, upset her paymasters by allegedly saying she did not use the Tube because it was "dreadful".

LU said it would not be offering her further work but Ms Clarke said she had been "wildly misquoted".

'Creepy experience'

She told BBC News: "What I actually said was that travelling in a Tube train would be dreadful for me, listening to my own voice and seeing the haunted faces of commuters being subjected to me telling them to 'mind the gap'.

"I would find it quite an uncomfortable experience in the same way that when I call a company when I'm their on hold voice and it's me saying - please press 2 for accounts - it's a creepy experience to be honest."

We would like to remind our American tourist friends that you are almost certainly talking too loudly Spoof announcement by Emma Clarke

Ms Clarke also made a series of spoof announcements on a website promoting her voiceover work.

An LU spokesman said: "It's not because of the spoof announcements. It's because she has criticised the Underground system."

"Some of the spoof announcements are very funny. But Emma is a bit silly to go round slagging off her client's services."

In one announcement, Ms Clarke, a mother of two who has worked for the Underground since 1999, says: "We would like to remind our American tourist friends that you are almost certainly talking too loudly."

She said she was "disappointed and perplexed" that LU had not contacted her but instead had decided to dismiss her via the media.

"I can't get in touch with anyone at LU to explain I was wildly misquoted," she said.