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Transport for London has said it is working to fix a technical glitch which repeatedly subjected bus passengers to wrongly-timed safety announcements.

Passengers travelling on the capital’s bus network have been left baffled by the non-stop alerts, which are supposed to warn people to “please hold on, the bus is about to move” when pulling off from bus stops.

But due to a fault with the timing, the announcements often sound once the bus has already started moving.

Many Londoners have mocked the announcements, while other irked travellers have dubbed them “insanely annoying” and “condescending nonsense”.

On Monday morning, TfL told the Standard the announcements “come from a good place” as part of trial efforts to reduce the number of accidents while standing on crowded buses.

The trial is expected to last for around one or two months, the spokesman said, adding the announcements are intended to act as a “gentle reminder” to people in a bid to reduce injuries while travelling.

He said the announcements are based on an average time that a bus waits at a bus stop and, if a bus pulls off too quickly, the alerts are put out of sync.

Scores of people ridiculed the new warnings on social media.

Nathan Wade posted a video of him falling over on the London Underground, joking: “If only you had told me to please hold on the bus is about to move on the Tube.”

Daniel Maiochi said on Twitter “Hello @TfL, please change from ‘please hold on, the bus is about to move’ to ‘I expected you’ve held on, the bus is already moving” while another man said: “30 minutes on the bus and my head is going crazy.”

Another traveller, who goes by the name Rabeeha on Twitter, said: “TfL announcement that always goes off at the wrong time has motivated me to never ever forget my headphones at home.”

But some people have hit back at the criticism, claiming the announcements are helpful to those who have sight difficulties.

“FYI as a visually impaired person who is frequently sent flying as I try to safely find a seat as the bus pulls off, the correct use of this announcement is extremely helpful,” said Dr Amy Kavanagh.

Another woman said: “The other day I listened to a disabled CLP [Canterbury Labour Party] member talk about how necessary having a tannoy on buses is in enabling people like him to travel independently.

“I’d encourage people to think of this before they moan about the new TfL ‘bus is about to move’ announcements.”

TfL said in a statement: “Passenger safety is our top priority so we've been trialling this announcement to assess if it helps reduce the number of people hurt ‎in slips and falls.

"Clearly there are some adjustments we need to make and we're working on that now. We will carefully monitor the trial to see how effective it is in reducing injuries."