Dissatisfied staff calls for 24-hour tube strike in London

London

Britain's capital city braced for travel chaos today with a planned London Underground strike expected to be the worst in years, after talks to avert the 24 hour walkout broke down.

Almost 20,000 staff of the rail network known as the "Tube", belonging to four different unions, are due to leave their posts in a dispute over pay and plans to run an all-night service on weekends from September.

The walkout is set to cause chaos for millions of travellers and bring the world's oldest subway system to a halt from 17:30 GMT Wednesday, with "no Tube service at all on Thursday", according to Transport for London.

Disruption is expected to continue into Friday, and British media described the strike as set to be the worst since 2002. 

A last-minute offer failed to clinch a deal between London Underground and The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), Aslef, Transport Salaried Staffs Association and Unite. 

London Underground said the "final" offer included an average salary rise of 2 percent, salary rises in line with retail inflation for two years and a bonus of £2,000 ($3,010) for drivers on the new all-night services.

"None of the unions responded to the offer," said London Underground managing director Mike Brown. 

"All we have heard is a series of speeches from trade union leaders, condemning us for communicating with our staff."