London mayor Boris Johnson's police figures 'misleading'

The number of police officers due to be in place by 2015 is a matter of debate

London's mayor has been accused of using misleading figures for the number of police officers in the capital's boroughs.

Boris Johnson has said the number of officers will rise by almost 1,200 by 2015, compared with October 2011.

But Metropolitan Police figures, which are published on the mayor's website, suggest the total rise will be just 56.

London Assembly Labour member Joanne McCartney said: "The mayor's figures are misleading."

The mayor said he had used "the relevant comparison".

'Dodgy stats'

The mayor's figures show the total number of officers in London's boroughs are expected to rise from 18,103 in October 2011 to 19,285 in 2015 - an increase of 1,182 officers.

However, police figures which are published on the mayor's website, show there were 19,229 officers in October 2011, meaning the increase in police numbers would be just 56.

Ms McCartney said: "We know that 2,208 police officers have been lost already and now it looks like Boris's plans for the future of the Metropolitan Police are based on dodgy stats.

"They either know that these figures are wrong and are deliberately misleading the public, or they are not capable of understanding the police force they are in charge of."

Mr Johnson said: "The relevant comparison is between the budgeted figures for 2011 and the budgeted figures for 2015, and if you look at both of those columns you will see there is a substantial improvement in numbers."

London Assembly Green Party member Jenny Jones said: "The figures are definitely misleading as they give the impression there are more police on the street and in some cases there are fewer officers on the street.

"I don't know if the fudge was accidental or intentional but either way it is totally unacceptable."

The Labour group has now asked the UK Statistics Authority to investigate the figures.