Wimbledon Park Station was left unattended on a total of ten occasions during October - despite Transport for London's claims that all tube stations are manned whenever services are running.

The information has come to light following a freedom of information request carried out by the BBC, which has produced a report on unstaffed tube stations.

The report states that: “In one instance a ten-year-old boy, who had been separated from his mother, got out at Wimbledon Park and no staff were available at the station. He was found by a train driver who had to get off his service and search for the boy.”

Meanwhile, TfL says it was recruiting 325 new station staff.

TfL's director of network operations for London Underground, Nigel Holness, said: “Safety is our top priority which is why we plan to have staff at all our stations, covering all hours that a station operates.

“On rare occasions, if staff are not available for short periods due to sickness or other unplanned circumstances, and above-ground station may be left unstaffed while another member of staff is allocated.”

He added: “We will continue to monitor the level of staffing across our network to ensure that our customers are kept safe and receive the best possible level of service and assistance at all times.”

Wimbledon Park Station is in Travelcard Zone 3 and is on the District Line between Southfields and Wimbledon stations