I'll reverse Boris cuts and boost police to 33,200 officers, says Ken

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The Labour candidate said he would return officer numbers to their 2010 peak of 33,260, saying: "We should cut fares, not the police."

The candidates clashed over how Mr Livingstone would finance his project, with sources close to the Mayor accusing him of "peddling fantasy figures".

Mr Livingstone intends to part-fund the policy by increasing the amount Transport for London pays to the Metropolitan police for deploying officers on the transport network. He says he will also find efficiency savings.

He believes he could save the Met £20 million a year by charging TfL more for the Safer Transport Teams. He said: "The safety of Londoners should be the first priority for the Mayor, yet City Hall's response to rising robbery, burglary and knife crime was to cut 1,700 police officers.

"Londoners can't afford a Mayor who's raising transport fares and cutting police numbers." Police numbers in London have fallen below 32,000 from a peak of 33,657 in 2010.

Mr Livingstone has said his pledge will cost between £60 million and £100 million, depending on how many officers are on the streets at the end of Mr Johnson's term.

But Deputy Mayor for Policing Kit Malthouse said: "Speaking as an accountant this is alarming financial illiteracy from someone putting themselves forward to be Mayor. He is proposing to spend money that does not exist." A source close to Mr Johnson added: "Ken is again peddling fantasy figures ... where money grows on trees. To say there is all this cash in TfL to be used like this is ridiculous."

The Met has announced 700 officers will be sworn in over the next three months. The force has been given a £90 million government grant to keep officer numbers at about 32,000 after the Olympics. Mr Johnson says there will be 1,000 more police on the streets at the end of his term than when he took office in 2008.

Lib-Dem candidate Brian Paddick said: "Ken is not promising anything that we have not already pledged. The Lib-Dems will instigate fundamental reform of the Met."