Star slams subway’s photo ban

ALAN CUMMING yesterday slammed a “ridiculous” rule that means he could be fined £ 1,000 for taking a picture of himself in front of one of his posters on the Glasgow subway.

The Perthshire-born actor hit out after Strathclyde Partnership for Transport set out proposals to ban taking photographs, filming or making audio recordings.

The actor, who posted a picture on his Twitter page of himself in front of a poster for the National Theatre of Scotland production of Macbeth, said: “It was brought to my attention by the people at Picture Our Subway that if the Glasgow subway company have their way I would be fined £1,000 pounds for taking this picture on the right, which I tweeted last week.

The campaign group Picture Our Subway, set up by David Bennett, is encouraging people to make their views known on the proposals.

SPT said photography was already prohibited on the metro system due to security concerns raised after the attack on Glasgow airport in 2007, but that these were yet to be written into the by-laws.

On Tuesday the transport body said the proposed changes may not take place following the close of a public consultation on June 15, and that “responsible photography” was welcome.

It has also emerged SPT off icials had published photographs on its Twitter account that could be seen by nearly 5,000 online followers without prior approval from Subway staff.

A spokeswoman for SPT conceded its officials may have breached guidelines by re-tweeting a picture taken by passengers.

Alan Cumming.