Lambeth urges rethink of Kennington police station sell-off

Under plans published this summer, Southwark Police Station would lose its front counter whilst Kennington Police Station would be closed and sold off – leaving SE1 without a publicly accessible police station.

Now Lambeth Council's leader Cllr Lib Peck and the cabinet member for healther and stronger communities Mohammed Seedat have written to Sophie Linden, London's deputy mayor for policing, urging her to make provision for South Bank tourists to report crime to the police.

"The closure of Kennington station would mean the north of the borough, in both Lambeth and Southwark, would lack any front counter police presence, despite the large tourist crowds on the South Bank and the need for visitors to London to report crimes in person to the police," the Lambeth councillors wrote.

"We feel there must be some publicly accessible front counter in the north of Lambeth to serve the South Bank [and] the local area."

The wards bordering the river in the north of both Southwark and Lambeth have some of the highest crime rates.

In August, 402 crimes were reported in Bishop's ward (Waterloo and the South Bank) whilst 516 crimes were reported in Cathedrals ward (Borough and Bankside).

By contrast, Peckham ward saw just 150 crimes in the same period whilst Brixton Hill ward's crime count was 196.