London mayoral hopeful Sadiq Khan today visited Islington as he pledged to become the city’s “greenest ever mayor”.

The Labour candidate visited Bunhill Energy Centre, in Central Street, Finsbury as he revealed “Energy for Londoners”, a not-for-profit company that will take a lead on clean and green energy across the city.

The centre, which Islington Council opened in 2012, currently provides cheap, green heat to 700 nearby households, as well as Finsbury Leisure Centre.

Its network is currently being expanded in a second phase of construction, so that it also draws heat from the Tube - to warm a further 1,000 homes.

Mr Khan said: “I want to be the greenest mayor London has ever had. I want my daughters to grow up in a city that is cleaner and greener, in which people aren’t dying because the air is so filthy. But I also want London to be at the cutting edge of new green technologies, generating the growth and jobs of the future.

“Energy for Londoners will bring a renewed focus to our drive to make London a cleaner, greener city.

“It will expand the use of solar across the city, and support communities who want to set up their own green energy generation schemes. And it will roll out schemes like the Bunhill Energy Centre that take waste heat from the tube and make the most of buildings across the city to generate energy from solar.

“All of this will help London reduce its carbon emissions and generate more of its own energy in a much cleaner way.”

After a brief tour of the centre, Mr Khan sat down with the Gazette to discuss how he will tackle some of the biggest issues facing Islington as a borough. A full report will follow.