Harrow’s retiring Borough Commander has spoken out about his “sadness” that the police force remains “stubbornly white”.

In an interview with the Guardian, Chief Superintendent Dal Babu, who retired on Friday after 30 years in the Metropolitan Police Service, claimed that he was openly called racist names while a police officer and that sometimes it would come to 'fisticuffs'.

The Chief Superintendent, 49, claimed that the poor representation of ethnic minorities in the Met is going to get worse and said he is sad that in his 30 years as a police officer the number of black and ethnic minority officers has only increased from one to five per cent.

Mr Babu will be replaced as Harrow’s Borough Commander by Chief Superintendent Simon Ovens.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police Service said: "The recent census has highlighted the extraordinary changes to the population of London, its increasing diversity and the growing proportion of non-English speakers and foreign nationals living in the capital. In some boroughs the majority of residents are now foreign nationals.

"This has added to the challenge faced by the MPS to improve the representation of people from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds which has been a particular focus since the Macpherson Inquiry.

"We have made some good progress to date, with 17 per cent of our officer recruits from BME backgrounds.

"The census demonstrates how much more we need to do. The MOPAC draft Police and Crime Plan also challenges us to look and feel more like the people we police.

"This week, the MPS Management Board spent several hours discussing the challenge and the Commissioner has now asked for a new set of proposals to be drawn up before the MPS launches its campaign later this year to recruit thousands more officers. He has also asked for proposals around improving representation in senior ranks.

"The MPS supports the recent work undertaken by ACPO in this respect. The Commissioner supports the Home Office's intention to allow direct entry, but has yet to study this week's proposals in detail."