Worried shopkeepers could be celebrating if a controversial plan to close Tufnell Park Tube is scrapped.

Transport for London (TfL) is considering shutting the station for more than half a year while the 40-year-old lifts are repaired, despite 100s signing a petition against the move.

But in Parliament on Tuesday, MP for Islington North Jeremy Corbyn extracted a promise from a senior transport minister to ask Tfl to find a better plan.

Speaking in the House of Commons, he said: “Tufnell Park station is very busy, although it is fairly small.

“I have just received a letter from TfL telling me that it will close the station for many months while it replaces the lifts.

He added; “Why can TfL not replace one lift at a time, so that the station can remain in use?

“TfL says that this is how it does things, and that it is cheaper this way.

“Well, it may be cheaper for TfL, but it is not cheaper for all the people who will have a very long walk, and the people who must spend more rather than less time travelling to work.”

MP Robert Goodwill MP, parliamentary under-secretary of state for the transport, replied: “The honourable Gentleman raises a valid point about sequential repair of the lifts at Tufnell Park and the disruption that could be caused.

“I am more than happy to get in touch with TfL and find out exactly why it is planning to do this work in this way and ask whether it has looked at alternatives.”

Many business owners in the area were concerned about their livelihoods being affected if the station were to close.

Patrick Fahy, landlord of the Boston Arms pub in Junction Road, said: “This is very good news, because closing those lift is a big deal for us.

“We’ll keep our fingers crossed they can make Tfl change their minds.”