Half of police stations closed in past seven years

The number of police stations open to the public has almost halved in seven years, according to new figures.

Nearly 400 front counters have been shut across England and Wales, a Freedom of Information request by the Mail on Sunday found.

Figures from 31 out of 43 forces showed a fall from 901 open counters in 2010 to 510 as of March this year

– an overall decrease of around 43 per cent.

The Met said the number of London police stations, which it defines as operational buildings that have a front counter, had halved from 148 in 2010 to just 73 in 2017.