The Metropolitan Police Service has defended their record after Theresa May said the proportion of black and Asian officers in the police was "simply not good enough".

During a speech to the National Black Police Association conference, the home secretary criticised every police force for not having a black and minority ethnic (BME) representation reflecting its local population.

In London, figures show 40.2 per cent of the population are BME but the percentage of police officers in the Met police from this background is a mere 11.7.

Franstine Jones, from the National Black Police Association, said: "I think police forces need to recognise their black talent, because you have got officers who have got the skills, who have got the knowledge, it is just that in the police service they don't get the opportunity to be developed."

Robin Wilkinson, Met police director of people and change, defended the figures and said the force was working to recruit more.

He said: "The Met has done more than any force to improve representation from BME communities.

“Through bold measures adopted by the commissioner, nearly 30 per cent of new recruits this year will be from BME backgrounds.

“That's nearly double what has been achieved in the past.

"On current projections, the Met will reach 4,000 BME officers by summer 2016.

“This is an increase of 75 per cent over ten years and an increase of 24 per cent since 2012.

"BME officers are represented in the Met at every rank up to and including assistant commissioner and we have achieved strong representation from BME officers in promotion processes we've run over the last two years.

"We're proud that over half of all BME police officers in the country work in the Met.

"However, despite this excellent progress, we can't make changes quickly enough - with BME officers still only making up 12 per cent of our workforce.

“Moreover, with five years of austerity ahead, the reality is that the Met, like other forces, will not have the money to recruit many new officers over this period.

“If we can't recruit, we can't change the workforce to reflect the London communities that we serve."