The newly re-opened police training school in Hendon was the site of a parade which saw over 300 cadets pass into full service as officers.

Hendon Police College, in Aerodrome Road, was recently regenerated to provide new training facilities for the Met Police and will house officers from Specialist Crime and Operations Commands.

Its former parade square and parts of the estate have been sold privately and will see development of a new neighbourhood for Colindale with over 1,650 homes, a school, and green space.

The redevelopment of the Hendon college is part of a strategy which aims to provide a more efficient, high quality estate with lower running costs.

The sale of the surplus land aims to deliver ongoing savings, with annual running costs reduced by over 50 per cent from £11m to £5m per year.

A newly-built parade square saw its first passing out parade today (September 9) with over 300 new recruits inspected by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Met Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe.

Commissioner Hogan-Howe, said: “The passing-out parade taking place here, at our new home for police training, is a cause for celebration.

“These 311 officers are at the beginning of rewarding careers and many more will follow in their footsteps.

“Serving London will be a privilege for them and I know they will make this city proud.”

Of the recruits, 79 were of BME (black and minority ethnic) origin, marking over 4,000 BME officers for the Met for the first time as part of an ongoing mission to make the police force ‘look more like London’.

Mr Khan said: “This is not about tokenism, but about building trust and respect between our vital police force and all Londoners because one of the best things about London is its astounding diversity.

“But to continue to be one of the safest big cities in the world, and I want us to become even safer, we need our capital's police force to reflect this, and to look like the communities it is charged with keeping safe.

“We have made some great progress, but we still have more to do.”

Mr Khan is seeking legal advice from a leading Queen’s Council to look at how the Met’s make-up can be as diverse as possible.

The new site will be officially opened at a ceremony in October.