The Easter section of the line was closed over Easter

London Underground (LU) suspended the Central Line between Leytonstone and Newbury Park for four days.

LU said contractor Metronet told them that it was unable to carry out the work just hours before it was due to begin.

Metronet apologised for the unnecessary disruption, blaming it on unforeseen circumstances.

London TravelWatch, the watchdog for transport users in London, said the mix-up was a disgrace.

A waste of money, a waste of time and completely unacceptable London TravelWatch's Brian Cooke

Its chairman Brian Cooke, said: "At a time when there is a huge engineering programme going on all over the Tube network, this will hardly inspire confidence in passengers that the tube is being improved.

"This is absolutely disgraceful - a waste of money, a waste of time and completely unacceptable.

"As a passenger group, we know that engineering work needs to be done, and support the vital upgrade of the network - but shutting down a section of the Tube while absolutely no work is carried out simply cannot be allowed to happen again."

A spokesperson for LU said: "Metronet have known for many months that this specific closure on the Central Line was to take place.

Poor planning

"This is simply poor planning on the part of Metronet. We have demanded assurances from Metronet that failure to undertake planned engineering work will not happen again."

A spokesman for Metronet said: "Due to a number of unforeseen circumstances Metronet was unable to utilise a planned possession of the Central Line.

"The work was important and complicated but despite every effort in the run-up to the closure, we were unable to carry it out.

"We fully understand the frustration passengers must feel - and we apologise."