No seat on the train? Just hang in there

London: For fed-up commuters who must choose between fighting for a seat or strap-hanging on a crowded Tube train, this may just be the answer. Will this help the Mumbaikars???

A pair of boots allowing passengers to hang bat-style from the carriage’s handrails has been on display at a British Council exhibition showcasing the best of young British-based designers. They were created by Dutch-born Eelko Moorer, 32, who has a studio in Hackney Wick.

The idea came to him as he was dozing during a journey on the Central line. “I thought, wouldn’t it be great if someone walked in and started to hang upside down from the overhead handrails?” he said. “I like to make objects that give the user a sense of release, to experience animalistic behaviour using the environment they are already in.”

He took girlfriend Alice Wolff on the Underground to film her wearing the boots. “Some passengers did the British thing of not looking up or saying a word. Others asked if they were a new product and could they buy them.”