London's underground system is set to brought to a standstill yet again this summer after Tube maintenance workers at the RMT union voted over 90 per cent in favour of strike action.

The RMT claims that the jobs of maintenance workers is still under threat despite the takeover of private contractor Tube Lines by Transport for London.

Bob Crow, General Secretary of the RMT, said, "Once again, RMT members have shown their determination to stand up and be counted when it comes to defending jobs, pay and working conditions.

"We have made it perfectly clear to Transport for London that we do not expect our members to take the hit for the final collapse of the disastrous Tube privatisation experiment.

"We have sought concrete assurances that staff will not be expected to pay off the Tube Line's exit costs in job losses, attacks on safe working conditions and an undermining of pay rates. Now that we have this massive mandate for action, it's essential those assurances are forthcoming as a matter of urgency."

No dates for strike action have yet been set, but if and when they come it is almost certainly going to be just under a year since the previous set of strikes by the RMT last June.

It will also be the first rail strike to face the Coalition government, raising the prospect of a "summer of discontent" as British Airways continues its strikes and BT looks set to have its first strike for over a quarter of a century.