Green-conscious commuters have hit out at tube chiefs after being banned from parking bicycles at Gunnersbury Station.

Transport for London recently pinned a poster above railings at the station in Station Approach, Chiswick, warning that all chained bikes will be removed by police.

But the move has prompted fury among cyclists who have used the railings for years amid claims it flies in the face of Mayor Boris Johnson's policies on green travel.

Cyclist Lesley Churchill-Birch said: "These facilities have lasted for at least 40 years and seemed to work pretty well on an informal basis."

A TfL spokesman said the bikes have been banned for health and safety reasons because they were an obstruction to the station entrance and ticket hall. An alternative would be investigated, he added.

But medical physicist Lynn Martinez, 44, fumed: "It's so environmentally unfriendly, there is no reason for them to do this."

In April, Mr Johnson, said he wanted London to be the most 'cycle-friendly city on earth' and expressed hopes that cycling would be better integrated with the public transport system.