The company which operates Croydon's trams could be removed if the Mayor of London's transport body has its way.

A spokesman for Transport for London told the BBC it was looking at ways to remove Tramtrack Croydon Limited and take more direct control of the tram network following a safety report.

The report, compiled by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) following a derailment close to Phipps Bridge on May 26 last year, found Croydon Tramtrack had a poor relationship with First Tram Operations Ltd which manages its drivers and controllers.

According to the report, the poor relationship had the potential to affect safety on the network.

But Tramtrack said it did not understand how the accident investigator had come to this conclusion.

"It is unclear where RAIB's view of a poor relationship has come from or quite how they have assessed that this results in a safety risk.

"There have been a few disagreements between TCL and TOL on the details of how to implement some changes. That is to be expected; what is important is that they should result in a healthy debate in reaching an agreed solution."

The TfL spokesman said: "Tramtrack Croydon's performance is completely unacceptable.

"We are examining all options that would allow TfL to remove Tramtrack Croydon and take more direct control, to bring levels of investment, maintenance and safety up to TfL's high standards."

Tramtrack said the company was performing in line with its contract requirements and that all the recommendations from the report had been implemented or were well on the way to completion when the matter was raised by the mayor in January.

None of the 180 passengers on board the tram were injured in the derailment.