The Mayor of London’s team had a “productive” meeting with the council over the future of the Met Line Extension.

Watford Borough Council welcomed Jules Pipe, the deputy mayor of London for Planning, Regeneration and Skills, and Fiona Fletcher-Smith, director of Development Enterprise and Environment, to the town on Friday, December 8.

They met Elected Mayor Dorothy Thornhill, managing director Manny Lewis and assistant managing director Nick Fenwick, along with representatives from their project partners.

During a short tour of the borough, Sadiq Khan’s team learned about the schemes running in the town – including the Metropolitan Line Extension.

TfL’s current estimates are that at least an additional £50m on top of the current total funding package of £284.4m would now be required to pay for the project.

The council has applied for the Government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund in a bid to get the project - which looks to connect the Metropolitan Line in Croxley to several new stations across Watford – back up and running.

The development has faced a lack of funding after Sadiq Khan dropped the project from his Met Line Extension proposals for a second time earlier this year.

Watford Mayor Dorothy Thornhill said: “The meeting went better than we dared hope. The Metropolitan Line extension has been stuck on the side line and we are now getting back on track.

“They were extremely impressed with the town’s plans and it was as though they came to check everything out just to see that what we had to offer was real.

“At our table there was a lot of people who are team Watford including Hertfordshire County Council - who have been great as the sponsors - and Hertfordshire Local Enterprise, who have given us lots of backing and major directors at intu.”

Mayor Thornhill added that the council put in the bid to ensure infrastructure such as roads, school places and doctor’s surgeries can all be considered when new homes are built over the coming years.

A Mayoral spokesperson said: “While work remains to identify the remaining funding needed for the Metropolitan Line Extension, the Mayor and his team have had a number of productive meeting with the council and local MPs, with a lot of agreement about how the project can proceed.”