Losing Wanstead police station and replacing it with a development of flats would be a disaster for the area, campaigners have said in an open letter to Mayor of London Boris Johnson.
The Wanstead & Snaresbrook Residents’ Alliance has raised the scenario with the Mayor as the station in Spratt Hall Road is considered vulnerable to closure.
The Met is reviewing all its building stock and will make recommendations to the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime from the autumn.
In the letter to the Mayor, Alliance member Geoff Horsnell, of Gloucester Road, Wanstead, said: “As the site is in the middle of a conservation area it is considered to be a prime candidate for development. “This would be a disaster for the area.”
With Redbridge borough commander Det Ch Supt Sue Williams considering other options for police bases in the west of the borough, the group said the station must be kept for its deterrent effect.
Response times to Wanstead would not be quick enough should the station close, the letter also said.
A petition opposing a closure signed by more than 2,100 people has been submitted to Redbridge Council in anticipation of triggering a debate at its meeting on September 20.
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