The Met Police has reiterated the need to axe Royal Parks Police in order to help plug a £260 million hole in its budget for this year.

The dedicated officers work across London’s eight open spaces including Richmond and Bushy.

Met Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, says 1,700 roles will have to go despite a cash injection from central government.

Officers in schools will also be cut, with a 10% cut to forensics, and 7% cut to dog’s teams and 25% cut to mounted police officers.