Violence against Tube staff is massively under-reported, BBC London has learnt.

Unpublished figures which London Underground (LU) directors have just been briefed on suggest a considerable number of attacks are not being reported by staff because they feel vulnerable and unsupported.

Last year 1,200 Tube workers were violently attacked and of those 140 were so badly traumatised they required professional help.

But Tube managers believe that could be a fraction of the real number after figures were collated from staff surveys.

You get called all the names under the sun

Paul Murphy, LU worker

Paul Harden was punched by a commuter who did not have a ticket.

He told BBC London: "There was the possibility that I had a ruptured spleen but fortunately after tests and being up the hospital for about eight or nine hours that was not the case.

"But it was very painful and I was off work for a considerable amount of time."

Workers are concerned about the high number of assaults.

Paul Murphy: "You name it we get called it"

Staff at Victoria Tube station are 15 times more likely to be assaulted than a member of the public.

Paul Murphy, a London Underground worker, said: "You get called all the names under the sun.

"You are told 'go get a proper job', 'scum', you name it we get called it, and on occasion you do get physical abuse."

Aiden Harris, who is in charge of staff safety on the Tube, has been leading a campaign for better protection.

Poster campaign

"There's a lot of concentration on people being assaulted and on physical attacks," he said.

"But actually a lot of staff are being verbally abused, intimidated, threatened and for a lot of this abuse they don't feel there is any re-dress from the criminal justice system or from the courts.

"I think what we have got to turn our attention to as an organisation is to let people know that we are on their side and we will help them through this."

London Underground has unveiled a poster campaign to encourage staff to report attacks and all employees are having extra training to deal with the growing problem.