Richard Harrington has questioned whether the Mayor ever intended to complete the Met line extension.

Watford MP Richard Harrington has expressed his disappointment over the announcement from Mayor Sadiq Khan that the Met line extension will not take place.

This comes after Mr Harrington, with support from Watford Borough Council, Hertfordshire County Council and South West Herts MP David Gauke, was able to secure support from Transport Secretary Chris Grayling and the £73million needed to cover the costs.

But Mayor Khan has still refused to go ahead with the scheme at this stage.

Mr Harrington said: "This week to my absolute amazement he has said it is not enough.

"It is showing he doesn't want to do it and I am unfortunately forming the opinion that he never intended to."

Mr Harrington has had a great deal of correspondence with Mayor Khan, and meeting with Mike Brown at TfL, to find the reasons why, especially as it is just five miles of track and two stations on land already owned by TfL.

He continued: "All the money has been provided by the government. All they have to do is build it and run it. 

"Every single obstacle he has given, we have answered."

Mr Harrington believes the project is low risk as well, as the provision of the track and air rights means TfL will own the property above the station which could be developed.

TfL would also take all the money from fares.

The Mayor's office released a statement on the issue, saying the Mayor and TfL have taken a "pragmatic approach" to find a solution but with the scheme in its current form, there is none to be found.

The spokesman said: "The previous Mayor committed £49million of London taxpayers’ money to delivering Metropolitan Line extension without working out how much it would cost.

"At the same time he agreed that it would be left to TfL to take on the risk of any additional costs.

"Following a detailed review, TfL estimate that to complete the extension, they would need to more than double the funding commitment they have already made.

"The final cost would be £73.4m higher than the current funding package, and there is a considerable risk that these costs would rise even further.

"The Mayor is determined to ensure an agreement is made which guarantees value for money for London taxpayers – particularly as Londoners are being asked to subsidise a scheme outside London.  

"This is yet another example of the incompetent and chaotic approach the previous Mayor took to infrastructure projects – with London taxpayers being asked to pay for a scheme that will benefit people outside the capital."

Mr Harrington said he will be starting a petition today to show the support for the extension, which will be shared by the Watford Observer.