Angel Tube station is to become exit-only at weekends from January because TfL cannot afford to replace its 35-year-old escalators

Angel station in Islington, which handles close to 12 million passengers a year, will close its gates to incoming travellers on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays from 2 January, directing weekend visitors to nearby alternatives. The problem originates from two of the station's three escalators already being out of service, leaving just two working. TfL warns that a simultaneous failure of both remaining escalators would force the station to shut entirely.

The escalators run more than 60 metres in length and rise 27 metres — too great a distance for them to serve safely as fixed staircases.

TfL blames "historic shortfalls in government funding" for its failure to replace the ageing infrastructure, with design work on new escalators only getting under way this autumn.