Mind the noise ... Tube pays for loud announcements

Residents near Earl's Court had complained that the station's public address system made their lives a misery and kept them awake at night with up to 70 messages an hour that were often needless.

Transport for London will pay legal costs after it lost its appeal against a council noise abatement order.

Campaigners today welcomed the court ruling and said it set a precedent for the 72 other ground-level Tube stations that have caused complaints. But they accused TfL of wasting taxpayers' money in taking the case to court.

Kensington and Chelsea council issued the noise order against TfL in April last year after residents' asked for the PA system's volume to be turned down. TfL appealed, arguing that the announcements were vital for passenger safety. But yesterday it abandoned the case and West London magistrates' court ordered it to pay the council's legal bill.

Fiona Buxton, Kensington's cabinet member for environmental health, said: "London Underground have been intransigent and shown a lack of community spirit worthy of the worst excesses of public-sector bureaucracy. They had a lot of opportunities to fix the system without going to court.

"This is a huge waste of money," she added. "Ken Livingstone himself came to hear what the residents had to endure and even he couldn't make TfL make the necessary adjustments, and he is supposed to be in charge of them."

Residents near the station described how the noise made their lives hell. Carl Aronsson, who has lived in Trebovir Road for nearly 28 years, said: "At its worst it was horrendous. There were frequent, very loud announcements which we could hear through our double-glazed windows. TfL had a complete disregard for residents."

Peter Wakeham, director of the Noise Abatement Society, said: "This sets a precedent that excessive noise will not be tolerated."

A London Assembly report found 72 of the Tube's 150 surface-level stations caused complaints, including Turnham Green, Ravenscourt Park, Putney Bridge and Boston Manor.

In response to the ruling, TfL said: "We have implemented various changes to limit disruption to residents from the PA system." Its spokesman refused to comment on whether Mr Livingstone approached them over the problem.