A woman has appeared in court charged with walking the ‘wrong way’ on an escalator.
Michaela Copeland, 32, allegedly made the unauthorised move at North Greenwich Underground Station, south-east London on Thursday.
She ‘used or attempted to use an escalator other than by standing or walking on it in the direction intended for travel’, it is claimed.
It is not known which direction Ms Copeland was trying to walk in.
Railway byelaws mean it is an offence to walk on an escalator in the wrong direction and anyone in breach of the law can be fined up to £1,000.
Ms Copeland, from Bermondsey, south east London, appeared at Bromley Magistrates’ Court on Friday where she pleaded not guilty to the offence.
She was pictured outside court using crutches.
Michaela Copeland, 32, allegedly made the unauthorised move on the TFL regional railway network in Greenwich on Thursday
Copeland allegedly walked the wrong way on an escalator at the Underground station in southeast London
Her trial, estimated to take three hours, will now take place in April.
The railway byelaw, under the heading ‘equipment and safety’, states: ‘No person shall use any escalator except by standing or walking on it in the direction intended for travel.’
Also forbidden is using the the entrance to a station as an exit and vice versa.
Furthermore, it is against the rules to stop any automatic door from closing – except in the case of an emergency.
It comes as more than 400 sex offences have been reported on the London Underground in each of the past two years.
Crime on the London Underground increased by 0.9 per cent this year, with more than 12,000 crimes reported.
Violence on the Underground also increased by 5.5 per cent compared with the previous year.