TORY leadership favourite Boris Johnson yesterday refused on four separate occasions to explain why police were called to the home of his partner Carrie Symonds.

Johnson, who is in line to become the next Prime Minister, repeatedly dodged questions over claims by neighbours he had been in an altercation with Symonds in the early hours of Friday morning.

The Tory MP was in Birmingham yesterday at a hustings with fellow leadership contender Jeremy Hunt, but the event was overshadowed by what had happened in London hours earlier.

Police officers were alerted to an incident at the home Johnson shares with Symonds after neighbours said there had been a loud altercation involving screaming, shouting and banging, according to the Guardian.

At one point Symonds was heard telling Mr Johnson to "get off me" and "get out of my flat", it was reported.

It was claimed that a recording of the incident showed Johnson saying "get off my f****** laptop" before a loud crashing noise.

Symonds also allegedly could be heard saying to Johnson that he had damaged a sofa with red wine.

"You just don't care for anything because you're spoilt. You have no care for money or anything," she said.

Scotland Yard said they were alerted to the situation by a caller who "was concerned for the welfare of a female neighbour".

At the hustings yesterday, Johnson was asked by the broadcaster who chaired the event, Iain Dale, to explain why police officers had been called.

“Listen, I think what people have come here today, seductive interviewer though you are, I don’t think they want to hear about that kind of thing,” he said.

“I think what they want to hear is what my plans are for the country and for our party. I know you are going to have to come back and I salute your indefatigability as a journalist. I am under the sad obligation of wanting to get my message across.”

The journalist responded by accusing Johnson of saying “absolutely nothing” about the incident and raised the matter again.

However, the Prime Minister-in-waiting again declined to offer an explanation:

“People are entitled to ask about me, my determination, my character, and what I want to do for the country. Let me just tell you that when I make a promise in politics about what I’m going to do, I keep that promise and I deliver.”

He was again accused of “completely” avoiding the question and was asked if a person’s private life has any bearing on their ability to do the job of Prime Minister.

He replied: “If you look at my determination to deliver for the people who vote for me, when I say I will do ‘x’, I generally deliver ‘x’ plus ten.

“Most people would really rather judge my ambitions and my character and my programme.”

After the journalist repeated the same question, Johnson again spoke in generalities while avoiding any discussion of the police call out.

“I have tried to give my answer pretty exhaustively. I think what people want to know is whether I have the determination, and the courage, to deliver on the commitments that I am making.”

Neighbours have come forward to give an account of what they heard. One woman, a 32-year-old nursery worker who would only give her name as Fatimah, said: "Just after midnight I heard a lady shouting, but I couldn't make out what she said, then I heard plates and glasses smashing and things being thrown around.

"I was watching something on the television and I had to mute it because I was quite concerned, it was coming through the walls."

Another neighbour, who did not want to be identified, said: "I heard the row, it was pretty loud. I was quite worried to be honest, it was bad.

"I heard a lot of smashing - it sounded like plates or glasses - and I could hear her shouting. It was definitely her; I didn't hear him. There was a lot of shouting and swearing. It didn't last that long, maybe five minutes."

The Metropolitan Police said it had responded to a call from a local resident at 12.24am on Friday, but after officers attended it was deemed "there were no offences or concerns" and there was no cause for police action.