All Met Police officers will be equipped with body-worn video cameras in the next year, Mayor of London Boris Johnson has announced.

In a trial running since last year, around 1,000 body cameras have been used across 10 boroughs as well as armed response teams, with around 6,000 videos uploaded per month.

The plan now is to make the technology available to all neighbourhood and response officers, with around 20,000 cameras arriving by the end of March 2016.

City Hall says the cameras will help officers fight crime and boost public confidence, and that in trials the cameras have shown their potential to reduce complaints and increase early guilty pleas.

The London Policing Ethics Panel will be producing the UK’s first report into the ethical guidelines around how officers use the cameras, to be published in the autumn.

Currently footage from the cameras is automatically deleted after 30 days unless it is marked as evidence.

Funds for the cameras are being raised through the sale of underused police buildings, City Hall says.

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The Mayor said: “This is exciting technology that will build trust, help the police do their jobs, and allow the public to hold officers more accountable.

“Our plans for the roll-out of body worn video will make the technology available to more officers in a single city than anywhere else in the world and is a giant step towards a truly 21st century police force for London.”

Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said: "I'm delighted that we will be able to press ahead with the roll-out of this technology. For too long our equipment has lagged behind the technology almost everyone has in their pockets to capture events as they unfold.

“Soon, more of our officers will be able to make a record of the very challenging circumstances they are asked to deal with on a daily basis and then demonstrate, more effectively, the reality of policing our capital.

“It will also improve public scrutiny of how we carry out our role. That is a vital part of being an accountable police officer. It is also an essential tool in gathering evidence of offences.”