Residents have until Friday to reply to the Met’s consultation plans to close Southwark police station’s front desk

Residents in Southwark only have until Friday to register their views regarding the closure of the front desk of the police station on Borough Road as part of City Hall’s drive to save hundreds of millions of pounds. The changes will mean residents will no longer be able to report crimes directly to an officer on the desk.

The station is situated only a few hundred yards from the site of the London Bridge and Borough Market terrorist attacks that killed eight people and injured 48 others in June. Local resident Anne Walters said. “I can understand why they are closing the front desk as barely anyone ever goes there. But I still don’t like the idea that no one will be able to report anything direct to someone there”.

The Metropolitan Police has to make £1bn of savings by 2020 due to cuts from central government. The Met says that the front desks are rarely used by members of the public to report crimes. Their closures would free up money that would be put back in to frontline policing. They also said they people are now able to report crimes using smartphones, tablets and computers.