Closing a custody centre in London risks weakening policing, a senior MP said today.
Former minister Gareth Thomas criticised plans to shut the custody suite at Harrow police station.
He fears the move could lead to CID officers being relocated out of the borough. Custody cells in Richmond are also being axed.
The Metropolitan Police stressed the changes were to make use of modern buildings better equipped to hold arrested people.
It said the custody facility at Harrow police station, which has 13 cells, was in a “poor state of repair”, while in Brent there is a modern 25-cell complex at Wembley and a 17-cell centre at Kilburn, which is currently only staffed for half use.
Police chiefs said this area of London did not require three custody centres and that Harrow was the least busy.
Harrow’s main CID would remain, but it will also have office space in Wembley where a joint case progression unit for Brent and Harrow would be based.
But Harrow West MP Mr Thomas said: “This will make the job of Harrow’s police officers far harder and will mean they have to spend huge amounts of time travelling to and from other police stations.
“Why has there been no consultation about a decision which could lead to the transfer of CID police officers out of the borough and weaken the effort to fight crime in Harrow?”
Three small custody facilities in Richmond will close, with their workload shifted to a bigger 20-cell complex in Kingston. The Wimbledon and Sutton custody teams have merged into a 30-cell centre in Sutton.
The Met said there was an on-going review of custody services. A spokesman added: “These larger suites offer significant advantages over smaller Victorian facilities that were not designed with modern policing in mind.”
