NORTH Essex commuters battled their way to work in London in defiance of the Tube strike.

Millions have been hit by travel disruption during the 48-hour strike by London Underground staff, which is due to continue until 7pm tonight.

Nine lines were put out of action after Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) members walked-out in a row over pay, jobs and disciplinary issues.

The Northern and Jubilee lines were running as usual and there was a boost for Essex travellers as the Docklands Light Railway, which links with Liverpool Street-bound trains at Stratford, was unaffected.

The east London route was no help to Colchester commuter James Redgrave, 26, who had to walk from Liverpool Street to Trafalgar Square to work.

He said: “I had to walk from Liverpool Street to Trafalgar Square because the bus and taxi rank queues were practically down to the river.

“As a result, a journey that normally takes 20 minutes took over an hour.

“It’s pretty ridiculous that what comes down to a pretty minor dispute about two members of staff, sacked for specific disciplinary matters, should have been allowed to cause this much chaos.

“It’s an awful decision from the RMT management and its members, given that they are essentially public servants, who should have known better.”

Phyllida Hallidie, who drives to Colchester North Station from Sudbury to travel to work in London, said she ended up arriving at her office early as she had left extra time and managed to get a Jubilee Line train.

But Colin Greenleaf, 26, booked to stay in London for three days rather than brave the commute from West Mersea.

He said: “Three of us have rented a little one-bed flat they call a serviced apartment.

“It costs £75 a night, so it was a cheaper option split between three, but two of us are having to crash on the floor.

“I didn’t want to take the risk of travelling in from Mersea but the annoying thing is I have paid anyway as I have a season ticket.”

Anna Byrne, from Witham, took an hour longer than normal to get from Liverpool Street to Baker Street for her job at Regents College.

The 26-year-old senior personal assistant said: “The queue snaked all the way round Liverpool Street station for a bus.

“At the taxi queue at Liverpool Street, the cars weren’t even leaving the taxi rank.

“There were about 20 taxis in the rank with people in and they couldn’t get out to Bishopsgate.

“Our taxi driver had been in the job for seven years and said he had never seen anything like it. It was fairly horrendous.”

Accountant Nick Waring, also from Witham, planned to work from home today, but said getting back home on Tuesday had been “ridiculous” with Tubes stopping at 6pm instead of 7pm as commuters had been warned.