Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate Brian Paddick has attacked Met plans to close local police stations across the capital.

The former Met assistant deputy commissioner warned the closures, including in Hampstead and Holloway, would result in fewer officers on the streets, potentially putting communities at risk.

Mr Paddick said the plans to centralise policing within boroughs were a false economy, and would "distance the police from local people, requiring officers to travel longer distances as well as distancing policemen and women from their own senior officers." Under the plans, all patrols apart from safer neighbourhood teams would be based in one location in each borough.

Mr Paddick warned this could leave parts of the borough without police emergency cover, particularly during shift changeovers.

There would also be one holding area for everyone arrested in the borough, meaning they would spend longer in transit when at their most vulnerable.

Mr Paddick said the Met should consult its own officers as well as the public on the proposals.

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