Extra officers will be out in Ilford from this week as the Metropolitan Police bolsters its presence in the town centre.

The Met launched its town centre team on Monday February 14 which will see officers will patrol areas of high demand at the busiest times to tackle the issues that matter the most to communities in Redbridge.

The team will consist of 25 officers in total - an inspector, three sergeants and 21 police constables, which provides an opportunity to deal with many of the issues that matter to the community, but specifically violence and harassment committed against women and girls.

Stephen Clayman, a commander for Redbridge, Havering and Barking and Dagenham, said: "This is great news for Ilford. We've got 25 officers whose job will be to make town centre safer, reassure our local community, and look after our residents, visitors and business owners.

"These officers will be supporting our safer neighbourhoods team in suppressing violent crime, and using data gathered from our SaferStreets reporting mechanism to address areas where people feel that police presence is needed. I know that the community want to see more police officers on the beat, so please say hello when you see them.

"The new team has a broad range of experience and they will get to know what some of the local issues are and take action where they can and I hope that their presence in the area will help local residents, visitors and business owners feel safe and reassured."

In total 500 officers will make up the town centre teams across London, while a further 150 officers will join London’s ward officers.