Councillors in Westminster have launched a petition calling on the government to halt cuts to the police budgets.

Westminster Labour believe that the safety of residents are being threatened as the budget for the Metropolitan Police continues to be slashed.

Queens Park councillor and deputy leader of Westminster Labour, Patricia McAllister said: “The bravery of the police protects us every single day, as well as at major incidents of which there have been many over the past year.

“The success of neighbourhood policing cannot be allowed to be wasted by further cuts to the police budget. We urge everyone to sign this petition, including Conservative councillors, many of whose constituents regularly contact us to complain about the impact of government cuts on local policing.”

They cite the figures that the Metropolitan police face cuts of £400m over the next year, having already seen £600m wiped from their budgets over the last seven years.

Last month, Maida Vale resident Abdul Samad, 28, was stabbed to death outside his home on St Mary’s Terrace. The charity worker was allegedly attacked by two men on a moped.

Two men, aged 18 and 17, have since been charged with Mr Samad’s murder and will appear at the Old Bailey on January 9.

Cllr McAllister added: “With the recent increase in knife violence and a number of tragic deaths of young people in Westminster, we believe that the government cuts to the Metropolitan police budget must stop immediately.”

The Met announced earlier this week their new techniques to combat moped crime, which has been ravaging Westminster for months. The Met have acquired four BMW scrambler motorbikes which are capable of chasing runaways down alleyways and rat runs. They have also begun trialling a DNA spray.

During an incident, a suspect can be tagged with a spray which has a unique DNA code.

Westminster Labour’s petition can be found here