The Labour party has been accused of trying to "stitch up" the selection of their London mayoral candidate, after plans emerged to charge supporters up to £10 to take place in a primary.

Fears over entryism have caused the party to backtrack over plans to hold a relatively "open primary" to select their candidate, Politics.co.uk understands. Registered supporters will now have to pay a fee to become part of the party's electoral college.

One senior figure involved in the process described claims of a stitch-up as "boll***s" and insisted that the real cause of concern was that the primary would become infiltrated by campaign groups and "spoilers".

"What would we do if London cyclists suddenly decided to join up en masse, or No to Heathrow campaigners?" they told Politics.co.uk