The Metropolitan Police is preparing for a deadly crowd crush at the Notting Hill Carnival this weekend.

The annual event celebrates Caribbean culture and is expected to attract around two million people.

Sir Sadiq Khan has said he fears there will be a mass casualty incident at the event due to the carnival becoming a "victim of its own success."

On the eve of the Carnival, police warned that they still had significant concerns about a mass crush despite organisers insisting that new safety measures had been implemented.

Commander Chairman Brenyah, the Met's spokesman for the Carnival, emphasised that the force can not be complacent.

She said: "The Met fully supported the event organisers' decision to commission an independent review into crowd safety after the number of situations in recent years where crowd density has reached dangerous levels.

"It was welcome news that some additional funding was secured to allow the organisers to implement a number of the review's recommendations.

Over two million people are expected to attend

"But they have had limited time to do so, meaning despite everyone's best efforts, it's inevitable not all the risks will have been mitigated."

The chief executive of Notting Hill Carnival, Matthew Phillip, said this year's event was "better resourced than ever".

He explained that the extra funding had allowed them to deploy more trained stewards on the ground as well as a "team of crowd experts".

More technology and CCTV will be in use, including large screens around the area to help direct the public.

In June, Mr Khan said he was "frightened" of the risk of a crowd crush after seeing "images of some of the crowds at some parts of the day".

Earlier this month, a new report found that the Carnival should be ticketed to avoid a Hillsborough-style "catastrophic failure of public safety".

Conservative member of the London Assembly Susan Hall said the event had only narrowly "avoided a mass crush on the scale of the Hillsborough disaster" in recent years.

In response to Ms Hall's comments, the chair of the festival, Ian Comfort, stated: "We're strengthening every operational element of an already extensive, multi-agency event liaison team: more trained stewards, expanded CCTV coverage, better parade coordination, faster response systems and enhanced crowd management infrastructure."

Police have warned people against committing any criminal activity

The Met has already arrested 100 people before the event, with 266 people either on bail or probation licence conditions.

Commander Brenyah issued a warning to anyone intent on criminality.

She said: "The vast majority [of people] come to have fun and enjoy themselves, to celebrate Caribbean culture, to dance, to eat and to go home with nothing but good memories.

"Regrettably, we know a minority come with less positive intentions, and in recent years this has played out in the form of serious violence, including three tragic incidents where lives have been taken.

"The actions of this minority are totally at odds with the values of those who care passionately about Carnival, and we acknowledge those, including the event organisers, who have stood up to condemn violence and serious criminality in the run-up to this weekend."