Sadiq Khan MP has thanked the residents of Tooting for their messages of support after reports he was bugged by the police while speaking with a constituent on terror charges.

Mr Khan is said to have been secretly recorded with a microphone hidden in a table at Woodhill Prison when he met with his constituent and lifelong friend Babar Ahmad.

In an exclusive interview with www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk, he said: "I have been inundated with emails, phone calls and messages from my constituents expressing their support and their confidence in the way I have dealt with this very serious allegation."

He welcomed Jack Straw's announcement of an independent inquiry into the allegations after ministers said they had not known or authorised the bugging of the MP at the meetings in May 2005 and June 2006.

Mr Khan said: "The first I heard of this was when I was contacted by the Sunday Times newspaper who told me the full details of the allegations. I was very concerned.

"As far as I was concerned, my meetings with Babar Ahmad had been normal meetings. I didn't see anything untoward."

It was reported on Monday that Mr Khan had been deliberately recorded by the Metropolitan Police as far back as 2004 because he was seen as "subversive".

Mr Khan has previously campaigned for Mr Ahmad to be tried in the UK and, before becoming an MP, he represented several ethnic minority officers in human rights cases against the Met.

He said this week: "I am a friend to the police and they do a wonderful job. I have campaigned for more officers in Tooting.

"But because of the special powers the police and the security services have, we need to make sure they are accountable and transparent.

"I'm not saying MPs should be above the law, but the police had no reason to believe I was involved in any criminal propriety.

"Even if they did, they would have to get proper authorisation."

Read the full interview in this week's Wandsworth Borough News.