Thousands of London Underground staff have voted to go on strike in the run up to Christmas as passengers face travel chaos.

The potential action comes amid a row over staffing, safety and regulations.

The RMT union has announced that balloting of their members resulted in "massive votes for action" by both Tube station staff and Piccadilly Line drivers.

Both results will now be considered by the RMT's executive.

More than 3,000 RMT station staff members were asked to vote over the impact on safety of the cutting of nearly 900 frontline workers at stations across London. Eight-five per cent of voters opted for strike action.

The RMT claims cuts have left safety on a "knife edge", highlighting recent incidents at Canning Town and North Greenwich stations as evidence.

Hundreds of Picadilly Line drivers were also balloted in a dispute over alleged breaches of policies, procedures and safety, which the union says has created a "wholesale breakdown in industrial relations." A similar number of Tube drivers also voted for strike action.

Mick Cash, RMT General Secretary, said: “RMT members on the London Underground stations see day in and day out the toxic impact of the job cuts programme and they are reporting back that it is horrific."

"With the constant overcrowding on stations and platforms it is only a matter of time before there is a major tragedy if we don’t act decisively.

"Our dispute is about taking action to haul back the cuts machine and put safety back at the top of the agenda.

“In the separate dispute involving drivers on the Piccadilly Line, safety is again a major factor and is tied in with the ripping up of policies and procedures and ignoring warnings from staff.

Gallery: 150 years of London underground Show all 27 1 /27 Gallery: 150 years of London underground Gallery: 150 years of London underground tube8.jpg Passengers on the London Underground in 1955 PA Gallery: 150 years of London underground Untitled-1.jpg The London Tube is celebrating its 150th anniversary Getty Images Gallery: 150 years of London underground tube18.jpg World War II, 25th, September, 1940, Members of the public huddle together in a London underground station Getty Images Gallery: 150 years of London underground tube17.jpg Queen Elizabeth II travels on a tube train after the official opening ceremony of London Underground's Victoria Line in 1969 Getty Images Gallery: 150 years of London underground tube5.jpg A London Transport official showing the Prince of Wales the controls in the driver's car of a Jubilee Line train in 1979 PA Gallery: 150 years of London underground tube12.jpg Emergency services at Chancery Lane Underground Station in London after a tube train derailed in 2003 PA Gallery: 150 years of London underground tube1.jpg In this file picture taken on September 4, 2007 passengers jostle to enter the Underground station at Waterloo Station in central London, as commuters battled with severe transport disruption to get to work as unions staged a second day of strikes on the capital's underground system AFP Gallery: 150 years of London underground tube14.jpg Mayor of London Boris Johnson at the opening of the ticket hall at King's Cross St Pancras Station PA Gallery: 150 years of London underground tube3.jpg Londoners take shelter in the London Underground during the Blitz PA Gallery: 150 years of London underground tube4.jpg David Cameron travelling by tube on the Underground to the O2 Arena in London PA Gallery: 150 years of London underground tube9.jpg Lord Ashfield handing over the silver key to Col. Moore Brabazon during the opening of the Northern line, London in 1926 PA Gallery: 150 years of London underground tube13.jpg Two 'buskers' entertain travellers by playing musical instruments on the London Underground in central London AFP Gallery: 150 years of London underground tube2.jpg London resident Jean Farrow, 36, one of the first directly recruited female drivers sitting at the front of a tube train at Hammersmith station PA Gallery: 150 years of London underground tube7.jpg An underground train heads into Central London on the Piccadilly Line on day of winter AFP Gallery: 150 years of London underground tube11.jpg Torchbearer and London Underground employee John Light carrying the Olympic Flame onto an underground train at Wimbledon Station, London PA Gallery: 150 years of London underground tube10.jpg The fire-damaged escalators at King's Cross underground station in London in 1987 PA Gallery: 150 years of London underground tube19.jpg London Underground workers building the Piccadilly Line extension at Turnpike Lane in 1930 Getty Images Gallery: 150 years of London underground 141007280.jpg Marble Arch Tube Station Getty Images Gallery: 150 years of London underground 141007351.jpg A commuter at Westminster Getty Images Gallery: 150 years of London underground 141007639.jpg Victorian tile signs have been updated with more modern ones in some stations Getty Images Gallery: 150 years of London underground 143711297.jpg London Mayor Boris Johnson travelling on the Tube Getty Images Gallery: 150 years of London underground 149562350.jpg Bank station during the London 2012 Olympics GettyImages Gallery: 150 years of London underground 155708342.jpg Oyster cards were introduced on the Tube in 2003 Getty Images Gallery: 150 years of London underground 155708347.jpg The entrance to Westminster Underground with Big Ben in the background Getty Images Gallery: 150 years of London underground 158719828 (1).jpg Shoppers keen to catch the Boxing Day sale queue outside Bond Street for the Tube station to open early AM Getty Images Gallery: 150 years of London underground 140839627.jpg The Tube's famously dirt-covering patterned seat fabric Getty Images Gallery: 150 years of London underground 140839693.jpg A woman at Oxford Circus station Getty Images

"Our members have been left exposed and vulnerable and we have no choice but to blow the whistle before lasting damage is done."

“RMT members have now voted overwhelmingly for action in both these disputes and the results will now be considered by the unions executive. The union remains available for talks.”

The news followed an announcement from the Transport Salaried Staffs Association that it will ballot hundreds of its Tube members for strikes over the closure of ticket offices.

The TSSA said its members had been subjected to increased threats and abuse since a programme of ticket office closures started.

A survey for the TSSA found that most of the 540 staff felt less safe since they moved from ticket offices on to station concourses.

The so-called Fit for the Future programme was introduced by former London mayor Boris Johnson. His successor Sadiq Khan has ordered a review of the ticket office closures.

TSSA leader Manuel Cortes said: "My members say Fit for the Future working practices are fit for nothing and should be scrapped.

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"They are overstretched by the rosters, stressed by how unsafe the Tube has become, and fed up with the spikes in abuse, both verbal and physical, from passengers."

The union said staff were being targeted by frustrated passengers if ticket machines do not work.

Mr Cortes said travellers wanted ticket offices to be reopened.

"While we acknowledge Sadiq Khan has ordered a review of the chaos caused by closing ticket offices, our members are so fed up and fearful they are now prepared to force the pace of change with strike action to highlight their concerns."

Steve Griffiths, Transport for London's chief operating officer for London Underground, said: "Our staff work hard to serve the millions of customers that pass through the Tube and rail network every day.

"Everyone has the right to go about their work without fear or intimidation and we do not tolerate any form of verbal or physical assault on our staff."