London commuter claims he 'will save £270 a year' by taking private cab to work instead of the Tube

A London commuter has claimed he will save £270 a year by taking a private cab to work instead of public transport.

Tom Church, 28, said he has already saved £22 each month over the past five months by ditching his travelcard in favour of a private cab - booked through a travel app.

Mr Church, who runs Latest Deals, uses ViaVan, which offers a private carpooling service - similar to Uber or Lyft - for commuters.

Launched in London in April, the app matches passengers with a ViaVan car or van that is heading in the same direction in Zones 1 and 2.

A London travelcard for rides between the same zones costs £131 a month but a commuter pass on the car sharing app costs £109 a month.

That means by sharing a ride through the app Mr Church hopes to save £264 over a year.

But the downside is that riders sometimes have to share their journeys, Mr Church said.

Mr Church told the Sun: "I bought the commuter pass which meant that sometimes - not always - you pick up an extra passenger on the way.

"Once or twice this detour has been a bit longer than normal, maybe an extra five minutes. But by and large it's always worked fine."

The commuter pass also limits travel to between 6am and 9pm, whereas a travel card is valid at different times of the day and night.

ViaVan also has an option for commuters to travel privately, which costs an extra £47 a month.

The company is a joint business between Via and Mercedes-Benz Vans and already operates in Berlin and Amsterdam.

As it stands, the firm only taxis passengers around Zone 1 and 2 in London.