1,000 fewer police as Met budget is slashed

Police numbers in London are set to fall by more than 1,000 this year as Britain's biggest force battles to meet budget cuts of £100 million.

The Met is losing 100 officers a month but not one is being replaced, dramatically increasing the pressure on front-line policing.

There are fears that even more could be lost in the financial aftermath of the 2012 Olympics.

The Met today said it was facing an "extreme challenge" as figures revealed that overall police numbers will fall to just above 32,000 in April. Acting Commissioner Tim Godwin said: "We're hopeful we won't lose 1,000 officers every year but we will be smaller."

There are also plans to sell off police stations to save money and replace them with small "front counter" services in high streets.

The latest figures show that last February there were 33,258 officers in London. The estimated figure for the number in March this year shows there will be 32,145. Mr Godwin said the Met was focusing on cutting costs through support functions, information technology, buildings and vehicles, rather than front-line services.

He also told how the Met plans to slash a quarter from its estates budget by selling off traditional police stations, which are costly to maintain.

Mr Godwin, who is Acting Commissioner while Sir Paul Stephenson recovers from an operation, said people could instead access "front counter" high street services, while officers and custody suites are based elsewhere.

He pledged the Met would protect the front line by cutting numbers of officers on training and improving efficiency.

The force has brought in a single patrol policy, which has boosted the number of patrols in London as well as recruiting extra special constables.

Kit Malthouse, the deputy mayor for policing, said the figures were "hypothetical" and could still change over the next few months.

He told the Standard: "If officers are going then they will not be on the front line, they will be taken from back office functions. We are trying to put more officers on the front line. We aim to maintain numbers around the 32,000-33,000 mark, which I think is about right, and we are certainly still above the number of officers in 2008."

Senior officers say the numbers leaving the force are now falling, mainly because of the recession — and they are considering a relaxation of the freeze on recruitment.

Senior London Assembly Labour member John Biggs said: "Public consultation reveals again and again that fear of crime is one of Londoners' greatest concerns.

"The rise in police numbers over the last 10 years has been hard fought and to see it collapse under Boris Johnson would be an indictment of his leadership. We meet him next week and will press him on his policing priorities."

A cut of 1,000 officers will result in savings of about £12 million a year.