Zac Goldsmith has said he would not be willing to raise the mayor's share of council tax to pay for more police.

The Richmond Park MP and Conservative mayoral candidate told BBC London's Eddie Nestor on Friday: "There’s going to be a cut and we are going to have to try and find ways of getting more from less.”

He said London had to "beg for money from central Government" claiming London only kept 7 percent of the money it raised in taxes.

But he ruled out raising the mayor's share of council tax to give Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe more cash saying: "I would not put it up”.

Asked if a 'further £800m cut' to police would damage the ablity of the Met to do their job he replied: "Yeah, of course I do. I am really worried about the figures that are being bandied about.

"We don't know if it is going to be £800m quid but those are the figures that are being discussed."

He said he would try to negotiate a better deal with Home Secretary Theresa May including heading off a "worst-case scenario" of up to 8,000 fewer police with "a smaller cut".

Other politicians have tried to gain support for council tax increases, including Surrey's elected police commissioner Kevin Hurley.

His attempts were unsuccessful and Surrey has moved on to trying to find innovative ways of saving money and sharing services with other forces.