Scotland Yard chief who complained of budget cuts given £65,000 Range Rover

BRITAIN’S most senior police officer Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe is under fire after replacing his work car with a new £65,000 Range Rover while complaining about police cuts.

The Metropolitan Police Commis- sioner took delivery of the chauffeurdriven luxury Vogue SE, complete with a £1,000 back seat entertainment system, on October 6 last year.

Sir Bernard, whose pay and perks deal is worth more than £300,000 a year, also has access to a £33,000 Jaguar XF and an older Audi A4.

At the time Scotland Yard believed it was facing cuts of up to £1 billion in the forthcoming spending review and days later Sir Bernard said it would be a “real challenge to keep people safe”. George Osborne, the Chancellor, spared policing amid warnings cuts could expose Britain to a greater terror threat.

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb, deputy chairman of the London Assembly’s Police and Crime committee which holds the Met to account, said: “I would question expenditure on what seems to be luxury goods.”

One source said: “The workforce is shrinking and he claims that there are no funds, but he [Sir Bernard] continues to abuse the budgets.”

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “The Commissioner’s main vehicle, which is for both business and personal use, has been recently replaced. His previous car, a 2010 Range Rover, had been retained beyond its normal peri- od of service and was becoming uneconomic to maintain, requiring increasingly frequent maintenance.

“There was no pressure applied in relation to the purchase. A recommendation came from the Met’s Fleet Services to replace as part of the vehicle replacement programme.”