Ealing Council is urging residents to join its Thin Blue Line campaign to put more bobbies on the beat.

Ealing has not been allocated sufficient police officers for a long time. It is estimated to be between 68 to 72 officers short, despite the borough having the third largest population in London.

The Council is taking its fight for more officers to City Hall. Residents are being asked to sign and return the postcard in this month’s Around Ealing magazine to help show the weight of feeling in the borough.

Postcards returned before the end of November will be passed onto the Mayor of London Boris Johnson, who is chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority.

The London average is one officer for every 398 residents. Ealing has one officer for every 428 residents – that compares badly with neighbouring Hammersmith and Fulham which has one officer for every 305 residents.

Council Leader, Councillor Jason Stacey, said: "Our local police are doing an excellent job, but there simply aren’t enough of them. We work very closely with our partners in the police to make Ealing Safer, but we will always be at a disadvantage because we don’t have our fair share of officers."

"This is one of the few issues where councillors across all political parties are united. I will personally deliver all the responses to Boris Johnson later this year to ensure he understands how important this issue is to people in Ealing."

You can sign the petition online.