Lifts broke down at Westminster Tube station nearly 100 times for more than 2,000 hours last year.

Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrats at City Hall, revealed the figures last week, saying it was ‘utterly disgraceful’ that passengers with mobility issues were denied full access to the London Underground.

Lifts were out of service at Westminster for 2,073 hours, the worst in London, while Green Park station was out-of-bounds for disabled and older passengers for 607 hours.

Ms Pidgeon said: “Bold claims about a station having step-free access are meaningless when lifts are not operating for such long periods of time. It is utterly disgraceful that such an important station as Westminster, which is at the very heart of our capital, is so inaccessible.”

She said the Mayor of London and Transport for London should provide more information about lift closures and alternative transport, such as free cab journeys, should be offered to people who depend on step-free access.

Phil Hufton, London Underground’s chief operating officer, said: “We are investing a record amount to improve the reliability of our lifts and provide greater accessibility for passengers. Over the next four years we will replace or refurbish more than 20 further lifts and we have cut response times and work duration to ensure lifts are available to our customers for more than 97 per cent of the time.

“This essential work is part of the much wider programme of investment, which has seen overall reliability across the network improve by 37 per cent since 2008.”