Policing based on the boundaries of London's 32 boroughs could be consigned to history because of £800m spending cuts, the Metropolitan Police commissioner has said.

Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe warned the cuts, to be made over a four-year period, would take the Met 'back to the 1970s' in terms of resources.

And he suggested single-borough forces, along with dedicated schools officers and yet more police stations, could face the axe.

Sir Bernard told the Evening Standard: "It’s a lot of money and a massive change, and as a result of that I genuinely worry about the safety of London.

"We think we can expect to lose somewhere between 5,000 to 8,000 police officers."

The force currently employs some 31,800 officers, Sir Bernard said.

Borough police forces have recently stepped up their engagement with the public, creating popular Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Some neighbourhood teams even log their foot patrols on mobile phone apps to prove they have been out and about on the beat.

The warning came just a month after it was reported the capital could lose all of its 1,017 PCSOs - often the face of neighbourhood policing - in favour of volunteers.

However, a Met spokesman said earlier this year that the force had "no plans to close police stations or offices in Croydon, Sutton, Kingston, Richmond, Wandsworth or Wimbledon."

The force has reduced its number of police stations and offices from 600 to 400 through years of cost-cutting.