Jenny Jones, who represents the Green Party, has called for London Mayor Boris Johnson to make extra funding for local policing a higher priority than Olympic security, which is expected to cost at least £1.5 billion.

She said: "The Olympics cannot become a bottomless pit for public funds and police officer resources.

"Local neighbourhood policing must be prioritised over providing security for large events and celebrities.

"Londoners need to be reassured that there won't be fewer police on their local streets in the next few years, as a result of security overload during the 17 days of the Olympics.

"The money being spent on security at the Olympics would pay for all the Safer Neighbourhoods Teams in London for more than six years.

"A lot of that expenditure is recruiting police into the Olympic security team way ahead of their being needed for anything useful."