Henry Moore's 1957 Draped Seated Woman will be sold by Tower Hamlets Council. Picture: Tower Hamlets Council

London mayor Boris Johnson has joined calls against the sale of a statue by Henry Moore.

Mr Johnson is calling on Lutfur Rahman, mayor of Tower Hamlets, to reconsider a decision made earlier this week to sell Henry Moore’s sculpture Draped Seated Woman, which is owned by Tower Hamlets Council.

The Mayor of London had previously written to Cllr Rahman in support of the Museum of London’s request for it to be loaned for display at its Docklands site.

Mr Johnson said: “The decision to sell this iconic work by a key British artist is extremely disappointing. Whilst I appreciate that the council needs to find ways to deal with the prevailing economic climate, I believe more could be done to enable Draped Seated Woman to remain in East London.

“This is a statue that was sold at a bargain price by Henry Moore to the London County Council for the benefit of local people in Tower Hamlets. The Museum of London in Docklands has offered ‘Old Flo’ a home and it will be a tragedy if nothing can be done to ensure it goes back on public display in the borough as originally intended. I urge the council to reconsider and that more time is given to find a solution.”