The transport secretary has condemned as "completely unnecessary" the strike which has brought the tube network to a halt.

But Ken Livingstone has spoken out in favour of workers' rights to go on strike and has blamed London Underground (LU) managers and the government for prompting the walk-out.

At 8.00pm on Tuesday members of the Rail Maritime and Transport union and Aslef unions began a 24 hour strike in a protest aimed at securing higher wages.

As just 15 of the Tube's 600 drivers reported for work, union leaders apologised to the public for the Tube shutdown but said LU management was responsible for the pay impasse.

The RMT leader, Bob Crow, said: "I absolutely 100 per cent regret what is happening to the travelling public but I have to say that the blame for this dispute lies fairly and squarely on LU's doorstep."

He called on LU to "see sense" and take the dispute to an independent arbiter.

Aslef general secretary Mick Rix added that Tube managers were "hell-bent" on trying to break down public services.

Underground chiefs said unions had put pressure on employees not to allow trains to run.

"We are disappointed for our customers that we cannot run any trains," said Howard Collins, LU's service delivery manager.

"Staff have been put under enormous pressure by the unions, with heavy picketing at many stations and depots. Trains will not be running normally until tomorrow morning."

As commuters struggled to their offices, the government condemned the strike and urged a return to the negotiating table

"This strike is completely unnecessary and damaging. It is causing inconvenience to hundreds of thousands of passengers and businesses," said transport secretary Alistair Darling.

"This is not the way to deal with these issues in this day and age. London Underground has already increased pay by three per cent on top of a significant increase last year.

"If the RMT and Aslef remain unhappy they should talk to management, not go on strike."

But the mayor of London said the 24-hour halt in services would cost the capital's economy at least £60 million.

Livingstone blamed London Underground for the strike and again pledged to sack its board of directors.

He told a fringe meeting at the Liberal Democrat's conference in Brighton that Wednesday's disruption was unnecessary but refused to condemn the rail union leaders.

"The reality is that there is no need for today's strike. The trade unions are prepared to accept binding arbitration," he said.

"Everybody in the industry recognises that you'd probably find the eventual settlement would be 0.7 or 0.8 per cent more than the Underground bosses are putting forward."

Livingstone rejected the claim from Tube bosses that they have no money to meet union demands and issued a scathing attack on the management team.

"They have the classic public sector monopoly contempt for their customers and their workforce. Every single member of the London Underground board will go out the door when it comes over to myself and Bob Kiley," he said.

London Underground's director of human resources, Bob Mason, told the BBC that the mayor "has made various statements, none of which I have found particularly helpful".

But the mayor's pledge was backed by Susan Kramer, who is increasingly likely to be the Lib Dem's challenger for Ken's job in May 2004. She dubbed Tube bosses "lame ducks".

"I don't give any credit to London Underground management because when you have poor industrial relations it largely comes from the management side," she said.

"The unions know this is a passing phase and that they are talking to lame ducks and I cannot see why Londoners have been put in the middle of this."

Kramer also hit out at Livingstone for failing to take on the unions and Tube workers for walking out.

"Somebody does have to speak out for Londoners. It's an horrific day if you're trying to get to your destination and I don't think there is any point in this strike at all," she said.

"London Underground will be changing control in a matter of months. It is perfectly reasonable to get some kind of interim deal. Of all the times when a strike made absolutely no sense this one has to be up at the top of the list."