A man beat by burglars in his own home is taking the Mayor of London to court over the closure of police front desk services.

Paul Kohler, 58, a legal academic at SOAS, University of London, has launched a formal legal challenge to Mayor of London's office for police and crime (MOPAC) over its plans to close 37 police front desks across the capital.

Mr Kohler is seeking permission to take the decision to a judicial review, which follows an approach he made to the Mayor last year where he asked him to reconsider his decision.

Mr Kohler was himself a victim of a violent attack in 2014, and he believes the only reason he survived was that officers were able to reach him from a local station in Wimbledon, which was within eight minutes of the 999 call being made.

In the attack, burglars caused him a fractured eye socket, broken nose and severe internal bleeding.

His daughter was able to call the police from her bedroom, where she was hiding, the four men involved were sentenced to between 13 and 19 years in prison for the attack.

Mr Kohler, who is raising funds to support his legal challenge through the CrowdJustice site, said: "Londoners on a daily basis see the vital role the police play in ensuring London remains a vibrant, diverse and safe place in which to live, work and play.

"The Mayor’s plan to remove police stations from the heart of many communities is a short-sighted and unimaginative response to the funding crisis caused by the government’s equally misguided decision to slash the Metropolitan Police budget. His simplistic, partisan and binary approach to the budget shortfall has simply compounded the problem, whilst his desultory and unlawful ‘consultation’ has done nothing to address Londoner’s legitimate concerns.

"Policing by consent relies on the police working in the heart of the community and we risk causing irreparable damage to the Met’s relationship with Londoners if we allow the Mayor’s dangerous proposals to go unchallenged.”

The academic believes the public consultation and decision were legally flawed as there was not sufficient information provided to Londoners, and that the Mayor failed to give proper consideration to the consultation's responses.

A spokesman for the Mayor of London said: "These closures are the result of government cuts since 2010, which have left the Mayor with falling officer numbers and with no choice but to close buildings in order to save an additional £8m a year – equivalent to the cost of 140 police constables – and protect the frontline of policing as far as possible.

"The decision follows a full and robust public consultation with public meetings held in every London borough. Around 4,000 Londoners submitted their views, their contributions were carefully considered and in some boroughs changes were made as a result.

"While public concern about closing front counters and police buildings is understandable, response times will not be affected by closures, and operational considerations were fully taken into account.

"More often than not, police officers do not respond from police stations and they are expected to spend more time out on patrol in the areas they are needed most."

The front desk services which were closed as part of the consultation include: High Barnet, Hornsey, Wood Green, Barkingside, Walthamstow and Wandsworth, while Pinner police station is up for reconsultation under the plans.