RAIL workers have launched a protest after Transport for London (TfL) placed a cash machine next to a memorial plaque for victims of the July 7 2005 terrorist attacks.

Fifty-two people were killed in three co-ordinated attacks on the Tube, and a fourth on a double-decker bus, carried out by Islamist suicide bombers. More than 700 people were injured.

London Underground staff and the emergency services played heroic roles in rescuing the injured and caring for them.

A memorial plaque was placed at King’s Cross station — one of several memorials at sites across London — but TfL has installed a brightly coloured cash machine next to it.

Rail union RMT says its members are furious at TfL’s lack of respect for the memorial and King’s Cross staff have launched a petition urging the machine’s removal.

The union says the memory of the dead and injured, and the personal risks that Underground staff themselves took during the rescue operation, have been “tarnished in a disgraceful and cynical fashion.”

General secretary Mick Cash said: “RMT members are furious that this cash machine has been jammed right in front of the King’s Cross 7/7 memorial and we want it removed — and removed right now.

“It’s hard to imagine the thinking behind this disgraceful move, which shows a cavalier disregard to the memories of those who were killed and injured and those who risked their own lives in the rescue operation.

“Those responsible should be ashamed of themselves.”