Police were called to Boris Johnson's London home in the early hours of this morning after neighbours heard screaming, shouting and banging.

Neighbours said they heard the noises from the £1 million property the Tory leadership frontrunner shares with partner Carrie Symonds.

They heard screams, followed by sounds of banging, and claimed that, at one point, Symonds could be heard shouting "get off me" and "get out of my flat", the Daily Mail reported.

Johnson, 54, has been in a relationship with Symonds, 31, since last year and they have recently started appearing at public events together.

Police confirmed they responded to a call in the Camberwell area of London around midnight last night.

It comes as Johnson aims to become the next Prime Minister by winning the upcoming Tory leadership vote, facing a televised hustings on Saturday.

Today, he told Tory council chiefs it is "darkest before the dawn" as he drew inspiration from Winston Churchill while making a pitch for their support.

A spokesman for Johnson's team today declined to comment on the reports.

He faces Jeremy Hunt in a head-to-head battle for the keys to Downing Street.

A recording heard by the Guardian of last night's incident reveals Symonds shouting at Johnson to get off her laptop before saying: "You just don't care for anything because you're spoilt. You have no care for money or anything."

The concerned neighbours called to the flat but there was no answer, even though they knocked three times.

They added: "There was a smashing sound of what sounded like plates. There was a couple of very loud screams that I'm certain were Carrie and she was shouting to 'get out' a lot. He was saying no."

A Met police spokesman said: "At 00:24hrs on Friday, 21 June police responded to a call from a local resident in the SE5 area of Camberwell.

"The caller was concerned for the welfare of a female neighbour.

"Police attended and spoke to all occupants of the address, who were all safe and well.

"There were no offences or concerns apparent to the officers and there was no cause for police action."

Johnson is the hot favourite to win the Tory leadership contest and become the next Prime Minister.

The Tory leadership frontrunner said it was him and not his challenger Jeremy Hunt who could reverse the fortunes of the Conservative Party after it suffered a bruising set of results in the local and European elections earlier this year.

He made the comment as he and Hunt formally kicked off their battle as they each faced their first grilling by Tory members.

The frontrunner and the self-described "underdog" sought to win over Conservative local authority bosses and councillors today in what was the first of more than a dozen events in front of the party grassroots which the pair will take part in over the next month.

But it is Johnson who is thought to have made the biggest impression as he quoted the British Conservative wartime prime minister who he has written books about.

"I've never known a time where we got nine per cent in a national election," he reportedly said, according to the Sun, as he referred to the Tories' recent electoral struggles.

"My message to you today is: the hour is darkest before the dawn. We can turn this thing around."

The support of Tory local government figures will be critical to both men's hopes of victory and whoever does become PM will be reliant on them to motivate activists and knock on doors.

Hunt's and Johnson's appearance in front of the Local Government Association Conservative Group came after it was claimed that Johnson's team had warned ministers that failing to publicly back him would destroy their careers.