London’s mayor has demanded the government urgently address the “severe” court backlog as he warned services to help rape and sexual assault victims are “stretched to breaking point”.

Sadiq Khan urged the Justice Secretary, Dominic Raab, to introduce measures to address the court backlog and help over-capacitated services that provide sexual violence survivors with therapy and other help.

In an open letter addressed to Mr Raab, shared exclusively with The Independent, Mr Khan warned the justice system is “in crisis from end-to-end” – with these issues exerting growing pressure on support services.