Boris Johnson's failure to fulfil his promise to bring in a 24-hour tube system is due to "Corbynmania" he claimed today.

The London mayor had previously promised Londoners would be able to travel through the night on parts of the Tube at weekends from the start of this month, despite failing to first get the agreement of Tube workers.

He today blamed his ongoing failure on the rise of Labour left-winger Jeremy Corbyn.

"The union leadership has used this as an opportunity to make a political point," he told LBC.

"What is really happening is the union leadership, particularly the RMT, feel that the country is being gripped by a sort of Corbynmania. They feel that everybody is going to the left and this is an opportunity to make a point to the awful Tory government that they don't accept trade union reform."

Johnson insisted that the Tube would still move towards 24-hour opening "this autumn" but refused to give a precise date or even to confirm that it would happen before the start of December.

He also ruled out meeting with union leaders to negotiate a deal to prevent further strikes on the Tube.

The RMT plans to launch two further strikes on the 8th and 10th September unless a new agreement can be reached on rosters and the pay and conditions of night workers.