Transport for London (TFL) workers have been warned about taking down unofficial COVID posters, after a union confirmed anti-vax signs have been found with razor blades attached to the back of them.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union said the posters had been put up on rail and tube stations in London.

The union has called for action to be taken against those responsible for the posters, which bear the message “Masks Don’t Work” and have a razor blade attached on the rear – potentially injuring anyone who tries to take it down.

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General secretary of RMT, Mick Lynch, said: “Any anti-vax conspiracy theorist resorting to this disgusting practice of lacing their propaganda with razor blades needs to know that they will face criminal prosecution and the highest possible sentences.

“As far as RMT is concerned they should be locked up for a long time. We would expect the police and the courts to take the hardest possible line.”

However, TfL has said it is not aware of any incidents of posters with blades attached to them being found.

A TfL spokesperson told Sky News that the company is acting “urgently to remove unauthorised materials” from its network, including those relating to COVID-19.

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“The safety of our customers and colleagues is paramount and we have issued guidance to our staff on how to remove them safely after reports of instances outside of our network of razor blades being attached to the back of such materials.

“None have been detected on our network and there have been very few instances of unauthorised adverts and materials relating to the pandemic,” the spokesperson said.

Earlier this month, five police officers were injured after violence broke out at anti-vaccine protests in Canary Wharf and South Kensington.

Last week, TfL issued a notice that said: “Recently, there has been an attempt to spread anti-COVID views.

“There have been posters placed in prominent locations such as doors, lamp posts, walls and places related to the combat of COVID-19 such as testing sites.

“These propaganda posters promote the non-wearing of masks, they are anti-testing and vaccinating and question the existence of COVID.

“There have been a number of reports that razor blades have been attached to the back of the posters intended to harm the person taking it down.”

It added that there was one example, not on the TfL network, where a person was cut by a blade when trying to remove a laminated poster about mask-wearing.

The notice also had a list of instructions attached to it about what to do when removing any unofficial posters, including “Look at the front and rear and check for sharps”, “make sure you have the correct tools and any PPE” and to “report the presence of any poster capable of causing injury”.

Customers who spot any flyposting can let TfL know by contacting customer services or alerting a member of staff.

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