The leader of Ealing Council and the borough's former mayor have urged central government to rethink cuts to police in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks.

In a letter, leader Julian Bell and former mayor, deputy leader and cabinet member for community services and safety, councillor Ranjit Dheer, expressed their concern.

The duo already said they were fearful of the comments made by Metropolitan Police commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe.

Mr Hogan Howe had warned that proposed cuts to the force could jeopardise police ability to cope with firearm attack - the kind that took the lives of 130 people in Paris when Isis jihadi's opened fire and set of bombs in the French captial.

Now the pair have launched a renewed plea in the wake of the attacks, highlighting the risk of such an attack happening in Britain.

Can police cope with potential terrorist attacks in London if proposed cuts are made?

The letter reads: "In his comments, Sir Bernard specifically raised concerns over the future ability of the Metropolitan Police to respond to a roaming firearms attack, of the sort that led to so many deaths in Paris.

"Given it is now clear how real the threat of just such an attack is in Britain, his concerns must be taken very seriously.

"We welcome the government’s decision in the wake of the Paris attacks to increase resources and staff numbers in the UK’s intelligence services.

"However, given the Metropolitan Police’s role as the counter-terrorism lead for the whole country and the vital role that police officers and PCSOs on the streets have in gathering intelligence, providing reassurance and responding to any incident, it would appear to be counter-productive to cut their numbers at the same time.

"Further reduction in resources, such as the removal of all PCSOs, as has been suggested, would be the final nail in the coffin of neighbourhood policing, and as a result, the wider ability of the police to keep the capital safe."

Could Ealing police cope with a repeat of the 2011 riots?

The letter went on to say that, should cuts come into play, Ealing council fear police ability to cope with riots such as the ones that plagued London in 2011 would be undermined.

It adds that the borough has also seen a rise in reported violent offences including homicide, domestic violence and sexual offences.

The letter continued: "Beyond the threat of terrorism, we also share the Sir Bernard’s concerns about the future ability of the Metropolitan Police to respond to a major incident such as the 2011 riots, in which our borough of Ealing was severely impacted.

"Sir Bernard has estimated that cuts of the anticipated scale would lead to reductions in officer numbers of between five and eight thousand, placing real limits on the ability of the Metropolitan Police to retain an effective front-line presence on the streets.

"This would reduce officer numbers to those seen in the 1970s, when London’s population was only 6 million, compared to nearly 9 million today. In Ealing, cuts of this scale would see the borough losing at least 130 officers.

"Given the challenging conditions that London faces, including the very real threat of terror, we believe this is the wrong time to be placing the front line at risk or to dismantle further the proven structures of neighbourhood policing."