LONDON mayoral candidate Brian Paddick promised to shake-up the capital’s police and repair the force’s relationship with the public as he visited riot victims in Ealing.

His pledge on Monday met with the approval of traders and residents. They gathered to meet the Liberal Democrat in Crispins Wine Bar, Ealing Green, which was looted and vandalised in a night of violence in August.

They told Mr Paddick they felt let down by the Metropolitan Police and that none had received compensation from the Metropolitan Police Authority.

Afterwards, Mr Paddick went to the shell of Leni White’s former home above the Ealing Green Local Supermarket, torched by rioters, and learned that last week was the first time she had been contacted by the police authority since she submitted a claim six months ago.

After a struggle to get insurers to pay up, she remains £15,000 out of pocket.

Mr Paddick, a deputy assistant commissioner until he resigned from the force in 2007, said he was appalled by the lack of progress and was shocked to hear from Ms White’s former landlord that the authority had contracted loss adjusters only within the past month. He said he would ask Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to intervene.

The London mayoral candidate blamed mismanagement by senior officers for allowing the riots to spiral out of control.

“Two debates came from the riots,” he said. “Why weren’t there enough police? And why did it happen? What’s missing is why increasing numbers of people don’t trust the police.”

Mr Paddick said criminals do not stand a chance when the public and police stand together, but the opposite is happening.

With the Metropolitan Police Authority now abolished, giving the London mayor control of the force, Mr Paddick said there could not be a better man than him for the job.

Joined in Ealing by Caroline Pidgeon, Lib Dem leader in the London Assembly, he promised to make improving Ealing Broadway station a priority, ensuring it became a proper public transport interchange. And plans for one-hour bus tickets, cheaper fares for the lower paid, and more electric-powered taxis and buses are among his policies.