Watford's elected mayor has said policing levels in Watford’s town centre and crime hotspots will not be affected by officers being drafted in to provide Olympic security.

Mayor Dorothy Thornhill said last night that senior officers from Hertfordshire Constabulary had told her they are still working out how the G4S security debacle will impact neighbourhood policing.

However she told a full meeting of Watford Borough Council she had been assured that policing "priorities" in Watford would not suffer as a result.

The Liberal Democrat mayor also attacked the Conservative politician who oversees the county’s force, David Lloyd the chairman of Hertfordshire Police Authority, over his refusal to tell residents how policing in their areas would be affected.

Mayor Thornhill’s comments were prompted by a question from Councillor Steve Rackett , the leader of the Green Party, who asked if she agreed that the impact on local policing should be made public.

He said: "David Lloyd, the chairman of the police authority, said it is not really our business to know the impact on policing in our community as relates to Hertfordshire police making up the shortfall.

"Given it could impact our local communities I would think it is an issue of public concern."

Mayor Thornhill replied: "The response from police is there will be priorities. They said as yet the details are not known.

She added: "I am told the town centre is a priority for us as well as hotspots, such as there were issues with burglaries in cul-de-sacs in Hempstead Road ." Mayor Thornhill also launched a broadside against Mr Lloyd for his reluctance to tell residents how Olympic crisis would affect their neighbourhood policing.

She said: "For someone who is potentially going to end up as police commissioner for Hertfordshire to have such as cavalier and lackadaisical attitude to policing is gobsmacking." Mr Lloyd is widely touted to be the Conservative’s candidate to become Hertfordshire’s first elected police commissioner in November.

Earlier this week he refused to say how the G4S Olympic shortfall would affect operations in Hertfordshire, which was one of nine forces called on to supply officers for the game.

On Tuesday Mr Lloyd said: "If you pay for a service it is right to know how it is discharged but people don't need to know how many officers will be on or off the street."

"If someone calls 999 they need to know they will have a response. It is not the case that there will not be sufficient numbers of police on the streets."