MACKENZIE CROOK - TUBE UNION TO PROTEST AT UK COMEDY PREMIERE

TUBE UNION TO PROTEST AT UK COMEDY PREMIERE

A union representing train drivers is to protest at the premiere of Three and Out, a new comedy about railway suicides.

The British film, starring Mackenzie Crook and new Bond girl Gemma Arterton, tells of a train driver on the London Underground who tries to persuade someone to throw themselves under a train so as to secure compensation.

But train drivers' union Aslef (the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen) is to distribute leaflets at Monday night's premiere in Leicester Square reminding audiences of the impact of real-life railway suicides.

"We hope you enjoy the movie tonight, but please remember that for train drivers like ourselves, deaths on the railway are never funny," the pamphlets will read.

"I don't want Aslef to look like some sort of kill-joy organisation, because we're not, but there are issues which we shouldn't ignore - and this is one of them," said the union's general secretary Keith Norman.

"I want the public to be aware of how distressing it can be for a driver to discover a body under the wheels of his or her train."

Worldwide Bonus Entertainment, the production company behind the film, said in a statement: "Everyone involved in Three and Out has been aware of the at times heartfelt issues that the film raises, alongside its more light-hearted moments.

"The production team did not want to shy away from confronting these issues, or go to the other extreme and lose the comedy, but great care was taken.

"Filming was carried out in close cooperation with London Underground to ensure that drivers and others who could identify with elements of Three and Out were considered throughout the production process," it added.