Retiring Met Chief: I'm Proud Of How I'm Leaving London

29 September 2016, 08:52 | Updated: 29 September 2016, 11:07

Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has told LBC he's proud to have led policing in London after announcing his retirement as Met Commissioner.

Sir Bernard  will stay in his post until Feb 2017 to allow Home Secretary and London Mayor to appoint a successor.

He was appointed to the role on 12th September 2011 and led the force as it became the only one in the country to maintain frontline officer numbers during a period of cuts.

He said: "I think there's always a time and for me, there are other opportunities I'd like to pursue now.

"This is a massive job, an incredibly privilege. I've loved it. I'm proud of leading 50,000 people to police London. It's an incredible capital city.

"They do an incredible job, don't they? Every day and night, not only the routine things that we deal with, but people with knives, guns, officers being shot.

"I've always been proud to lead that fight, which for me is about the good guys winning and the bad guys losing."

Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted:

I would like to thank Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe for his years of service and dedication to keeping Londoners safe.

— Mayor of London (@MayorofLondon) September 29, 2016

One of the things he will miss is the regular visits to Nick Ferrari's studio. Here's one classic moment when he told people to call the Terror Hotline - but couldn't remember the number.

But he got his own back on Nick this morning at the end of the interview... watch below.