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An anti-Tube chat badge telling Londoners “Don’t even think about talking to me!” has been handed out on the Underground this morning.

It comes after hundreds of badges with the words "Tube chat?" were handed out in London yesterday urging Tube passengers to talk to a stranger.

But Londoners labelled the idea as “monstrous”, and even took to creating their own badge designs to voice their outrage.

This morning, a Londoner took the backlash one step further by producing their own “Shut up” badges, for travellers who have no urge to talk to strangers.

Leaflets given out at Liverpool Street station this morning read: “Want nothing less than a “chat” with one of your fellow passengers?

“Wear this badge to let them know that you’d rather drink a pint of bleach than talk with them.

"Start using it today."

Creator Brian Wilson, 45, told the Standard he felt that when he saw the Tube Chat badges, he had to do something about it.

The pest controller said: "I get the tube every morning and I can't stand the idea of people talking to me on the tube and I can't stand the idea of someone gassing off at me.

"I'm from London, I grew up in Hackney, and we get a lot of nutters round here.

"I like to have my own space when I'm travelling, if we're in the pub then that's fine but not when I'm reading my book on the tube."

Mr Wilson added that the badges went down a storm with commuters and he was planning to make more to give out to people at the weekend.

Londoners took to social media in their droves yesterday to condemn the Tube chat badges, labelling them as "monstrous" and "weirdo magnets".

But American inventor Jonathan Dunne said the mass criticism didn't bother him, telling the Standard: "Haters gonna hate".

However, he admitted: "I thought it would be a fun thing to do, handing out the flyers and chatting to people but it didn't go so well.

"People wouldn't take one, saying they might end up talking to a psychopath."