Interactive map reveals where half of London's police station front desks will shut as Met releases bombshell list
In a list published overnight, Scotland Yard confirms it will break its pledge to have one accessible 24 hours a day in each of the capital's 32 boroughs.
Just 20 will remain open with 18 being axed in a desperate attempt to balance a £260 million budget shortfall.
They are Kentish Town in Camden; Tottenham in Haringey; Edmonton in Enfield; Harrow; Bethnal Green in Tower Hamlets; Dagenham; Chingford in Waltham Forest; Kensington; Hammersmith; Twickenham in Richmond; Lavender Hill in Wandsworth; Wimbledon in Merton; Hayes in Hillingdon; and Plumstead in Greenwich.
A further four currently with reduced front desks will close at Barking Learning Centre, Church Street in Westminster, Royalty Studios in Kensington and Chelsea and Mitcham in Merton.
Met Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist and Kaya Comer-Schwartz, Sadiq Khan's deputy mayor for policing and crime, will face furious London Assembly members at an extraordinary additional meeting to urgently discuss the proposals.
Shadow justice secretary Chris Philp posted on X, formerly Twitter: 'The police will now be less accessible and Londoners even less safe.'
Lib Dem MP for Twickenham Munira Wilson was among those who wrote to the Home Secretary demanding that she fully commits to funding the force.
They warned Yvette Cooper 'further cuts only put another nail in the coffin of community policing'.
Amid an epidemic of knife crime, mobile phone snatches, shoplifting and bike theft across London, Cooper was told the move 'caused significant worry for our constituents'.
In south west London, it means residents cannot walk in and speak to an officer face-to-face when Twickenham, Merton, Wimbledon, Lavender Hill and Mitcham lose theirs.
There are also concerns those on bail will have to travel miles to report as part of conditions increasing the risk a defendant might abscond.
In a surprise move, Kingston police station will remain open to avoid the nearest 24-hour counter to Richmond being Acton, Sutton or Lambeth.
Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, where a young woman was raped in the town centre on June 29, accused the police in her borough of not wanting to 'engage with the public at all' after hearing Chingford will close and residents will need to go to Stratford or online if they want to contact someone.
A Met Police spokeswoman said: 'Just five per cent of crimes were reported using front counters last year, with the vast majority of Londoners doing it over the phone, online, or in person with officers elsewhere.
'Given the Met's budget shortfall and shrinking size, it is no longer sustainable to keep all front counters open.
'That's why we have taken the tough choice to pursue some closures and a reduction in hours – allowing us to focus resources relentlessly on tackling crime and putting more officers into neighbourhoods across London.'
She added the Met 'is focusing ruthlessly on visible policing on London's streets, modernising services and increasing visibility in neighbourhoods with over 300 additional PCSOs and over 300 additional officers'.
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