London Underground’s medic response team is set to be halved, leaving only eight staff members across the network.

The Police Medic Response Unit (PMRU) had 20 medic-trained British Transport Police (BTP) officers set up to respond when passengers fall ill on the transport system.

But the decision was announced yesterday to send 12 officers back to their normal BTP duties after claims the scheme did not appear to speed up response times.

The PMRU was set up primarily to reduce disruption during the Olympics.