Surbiton’s police front counter at Millbank House will close as part of Boris Johnson’s Police and Crime Plan, the Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime has confirmed.

Following a consultation it will be replaced by a contact point, for “non-urgent face-to-face contact”.

It will be open from 7-8pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and on Saturdays from 2-3pm.

Other contact points will be at Hook Parade, and in Cowleaze Road.

Kingston police station will retain its 24-hour front counter, and the standard daytime counter at the CI Tower in New Malden will stay open, the plan said.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “Londoners have repeatedly told us that putting more officers on the streets is their top priority, not keeping them hidden behind desks in offices which the public rarely set foot in.

"By getting our police out onto the streets and into the heart of their communities, we will drive down crime and boost confidence, and at the same time build a Met Police Service which is leaner, more efficient and more effective."

But Kingston Council leader councillor Derek Osbourne said: "Bobbies and buildings has been an old mantra and has led to police stations closing in the past, to the point where we have got neither.

"Also you don’t see the police presence that people have valued so much over the last ten years.”

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