South London politicians have hit out at the Met after it moved local police to a station in central London -over a 45-minute walk away from the area.
Since the Met closed its office in Seven Islands Leisure Centre in Rotherhithe at the end of March, bobbies covering the area have been based three miles away at Southwark Police Station on Borough High Street.
Local politicians claim senior officers were offered the opportunity to open a temporary hub in Surrey Quays Shopping Centre but snubbed the idea, although the Met disputes this. Delays in finding an alternative site for local officers mean Rotherhithe has now been left without a fixed police base for the first time in over 60 years.
Local Labour councillor Stephanie Cryan said the time it took officers to reach Rotherhithe from Southwark Police Station meant the area was losing up to an hour and a half of “on the beat” policing every day.
She said: "If [the police] were based more centrally [locally], they could get more time. The message it gives to the community in Rotherhithe is 'you are not very important'. With the regeneration in the area, there has been an offer of a dedicated police base. But my worry is that when the police get used to being out of the area, they won't come back.
"People are worried. We see crime happening and there has been an increase in phone snatching in Canada Water. We get [that] for serious crime, people should still be reporting it to 999, but local police deter local crime. We want the police to know we want them to come back; we want local police and we want them to be here as much as they can be."
Fellow Rotherhithe councillor Kath Whittam added: "With the explosion in the number of people living in the area, there's a lot more crime happening and the police need to be here. I think they were quite surprised about the level of concern from the local community at first [but] I think they are starting to understand."
Rotherhithe's former police station on Lower Road shut down in 2017. After its closure, staff covering Rotherhithe, Surrey Docks and South Bermondsey moved to a space within Seven Islands Leisure Centre.
At the time, then-Inspector Jim Cole of Southwark Police said cash saved from the sale of Rotherhithe Police Station would go “towards keeping officers equipped with modern technology, allowing them to spend more time working in the local community”.
Seven Islands Leisure Centre is due to close later this year following the opening of the new Canada Water Leisure Centre, which is nearing completion.. A petition set-up by local Labour councillors calling on the Met to retain a police base in Rotherhithe has gained over 550 signatures.
Liberal Democrat councillor for Surrey Docks, Adam Hood, has suggested using Canada Water Library as a temporary base. The area's Labour MP Neil Coyle, who met with the Met last week to speak about the issue, described his conversation with senior officers as 'disappointing'.
Coyle, MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, said: "The superintendent responsible for ensuring the local team have local space revealed complete ineptness frankly. Despite years of planning, the officer didn't know the timetable for moving the local team and had done zero preparation. He'd found no new base, had examined no other sites until compelled to, and did not even know when the permanent new base might be available under the Canada Water Masterplan developments.
"I have raised these problems with the new borough commander and am awaiting her response. The police are committed to a new local base and subsequent discussions have stressed the need to move faster in finding an alternative to Seven Islands until [a] permanent space might be available."
A Met Police spokesperson said: "Residents should be reassured that the Met continues to police Rotherhithe. Emergency response officers are not affected by the move and neighbourhood officers continue to police their wards. We remain committed to working with our partners in Southwark [Council] to secure an alternative location."
