Met Police sells property to fight funding cuts

Britain’s largest police force now owns fewer than 200 buildings having sold more than £1 billion in property to fight funding cuts, figures show.

The Metropolitan Police has “sold the Crown Jewels” and “run out of things to sell” after being stretched to “breaking point”, according to one rankand-file leader.

Hundreds of flats and buildings – some owned by the Met since the 19th Century – have been bought from the force since 2012, figures released to the Press Association under freedom of information laws show.

The sell-off has left Scotland Yard with just 137 “operational” buildings and 36 “residential” buildings, according to the data.

The force has had to make around £600 million worth of savings since 2010, and must find a further £335m by 2022, according to the London Mayor’s office.

Metropolitan Police merchandise could hit the shops soon after a branding firm was brought in to design clothing, toys and souvenirs in a bid to follow the New York Police Department.

Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, has told the Press Association: “We’ve sold the Crown Jewels, so to speak. We’ve run out of things to sell.

“This is really, really, worrying for society.

“They have all been sold so that we don’t have to cut police officers. That is shocking.”

The most lucrative deal was the sale of New Scotland Yard in 2016, which boosted Met coffers by £370m after it was sold to investors from Abu Dhabi for luxury flats.

The sale of New Scotland Yard raised £370m.