FORMER London Mayor Ken Livingstone has launched a campaign to try and save the capital’s pubs.

He has just published a a series of measures which he says could help prevent hundreds of London pubs from closing.

These include pressing for legislation to protect pubs, working with councils to make greater use of their discretionary planning powers to prevent pub closures and backing campaigns to persuade pub companies to improve their treatment of pub landlords.

Mr Livingstone says he will also be lobbying the coalition government to drop plans to axe the £3.3m community-owned pubs support programme which enables communities to buy and take over of the running of their threatened local pubs.

He said: “Pubs are at the heart of communities across London.

“They make a huge contribution to the economy and to the everyday quality of life in our city.”