Darts fan's stunt backfires as he slides down middle of escalator

A darts fan will be spending Christmas with a couple of cuts and bruises after attempting to slide down the centre of a Tube escalator - but forgetting that the middle is littered with signs and emergency stop buttons.

After drinking 10 pints at the PDC World Championships, Freddie Andrews told the Evening Standard that it seemed like a good idea.

"I was that drunk... the escalator was free and I thought, ‘why not?’", the 22-year-old explained.

Mr Andrews was lucky to have suffered only minor injuries in the London Bridge station stunt which was filmed and put online by his friends.

The video shows Mr Andrews' speedy descent which is stopped only by an emergency stop button which hits him between his legs and momentarily halts his trajectory.

Unable to stop himself, Mr Andrews' journey then continues almost to the bottom of the escalator until he hits a sign and is catapulted onto the moving walkway.

Despite not suffering serious injuries, the Asda worker told the newspaper how he woke up on Thursday (the morning after the night before) and "could not move".

He continued that he "regretted" his actions soon after jumping onto the centre of the escalator and "wouldn't recommend it to anyone else"

“It was faster than I thought it would have been. But as I was sliding I couldn’t stop myself and had no choice," he explained.

The Twitter video has been viewed eight million times after it was posted on Thursday evening.

A spokesperson for Transport for London criticised Mr Andrews' actions and urged travellers to use the Underground safely.

“Safety is our top priority and pranks like this are dangerous for not only those involved but also to other customers.

“We have frequent PA announcements reminding customers to be careful when using escalators, and we also run safety campaigns throughout the year to encourage customers to take care whilst traveling on our network.”

Presumably next time he uses the Underground Mr Andrews will take the slower option and stand, rather than slide on the escalator.