Trade union bosses say plans to close half of London's police station front desks will 'undoubtedly' lead to a rise in crime.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has blasted the latest revision to the Met Police's cost-cutting exercise as it seeks to close a £260million funding gap.
The force is proposing to permanently reduce the number of public-facing front counters from 37 to 19, despite the fact they were used to report 50,000 crimes last year.
The union claims it has seen plans to only make eight of those 24-hour - killing off a manifesto pledge by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to have one 24-hour front desk in each of London's boroughs.
But last week he claimed 'very few' people now use desks and the cash could be better spent on local policing. Unite says the decision could cost 100 staff their jobs.
Ms Graham claimed today the decision was being forced through without any trade union consultation - and said stations in the crosshairs include those in areas with rising crime such as in Dagenham, Edmonton and Chingford.
And it emerged in a London Assembly meeting last week that the plans had been detailed in December last year - despite only being made public in July.
'The plans to close so many police station front desks is an incredibly short-sighted decision by the Metropolitan Police, which will undoubtedly lead to more crime, higher levels of crimes being unreported and increased staff stress,' she said.
The Metropolitan Police has been savaged for pressing ahead with plans to close half of London's public counters.
The plans break a manifesto pledge by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to keep a counter open 24 hours a day in every one of the capital's boroughs.
Unite's general secretary Sharon Graham has claimed the cuts will 'undoubtedly' lead to a rise in crime.
'The fact it is forcing such serious cuts through without any consultation with Unite is completely unacceptable.'
'Unite will fight these savage cuts to services every step of the way to protect our hard-working members as well as the general public who will also suffer from this decision.'
Police call handlers who are 'already overstretched' will deal with additional workloads because of a lack of front counters, the union says.
And people who are elderly, disabled or can't speak English will also suffer because they often find it easier to speak to someone in person rather than completing a form.
One front desk worker said: 'People will just not report crimes as they have no means to. This will make the streets of London even more dangerous than they already are - more cuts equals more crime.'
Unite is planning a series of protests outside police stations in response to the plans.
The union's regional officer Keith Henderson said: "This decision is completely unworkable and won't even save the Met Police that much money in the long run.
'In fact, it runs a high risk of costing the force more as it will lead to crimes not being reported and increased incidents as well as staff potentially going off sick due to stress.'
The Met itself admits that the closures will only save £7million, or less than three per cent of the shortfall the force is facing in its budget.
But it has pushed back on the claim that unions will be cut out of the picture, insisting a consultation will proceed once the plans have been formalised.
A force spokesperson said: 'Just five per cent of crimes were reported using front counters last year, with only one per cent of these being made during the night.
'At the busiest front counter in London on average 15 crimes are reported a day - less than one an hour - and in the least busy, only 2.5 crimes are reported a day.
'Londoners tell us they want to see more officers on our streets. The decision to reduce and close some front counters will save £7million and 3,752 hours of police officer time per month allowing us to focus resources relentlessly on tackling crime and putting more officers into neighbourhoods across London.'
'We remain in the early stages of this proposal and have engaged with stakeholders, including unions prior to a formal consultation which will occur when a decision is made.'
The Met is also cutting a total of 1,700 officers and staff and removing both dedicated police officers in schools and the Royal Parks division.
Forensics, historic crime, mounted police and dog teams are also being cut, and the organised crime-busting Flying Squad may lose its guns.
Last week, Mr Khan sought to justify the cuts to front desks to London Assembly members during Mayor's Question Time - while seemingly ducking that he had pledged to keep one open in each borough prior to being elected again.
He said closure decisions were 'operational' choices for the Met to make - despite intervening to save Uxbridge police station shortly before the by-election in Boris Johnson's constituency after the former MP appealed to him to do so.
'Any changes to the number of police front counters or their opening times is, of course, ultimately, an operational decision for the Met to take based on resources, funding and public demand for services,' he said.
Asked why he made a promise he couldn't keep, he retorted: 'When the facts change, I change my mind.'
He went on to claim that 95 per cent of crime is reported to the force via phone, online or directly to officers. This means around 50,000 crimes are still reported at counters every year.
'The good news and bad news is, very few Londoners use the front counters. That’s just a fact,' he added, raising his eyebrows.
'The most recent analysis (showed) some front counters were used three, four, or maybe five times a day for crimes being reported and not at all during the course of the night.'
The session went on to hear that the plans for cuts had been drawn up in December 2024 - despite only coming to the public's attention three months ago.
Mr Khan appeared to suggest that the information had been available to Assembly members, had they looked for it, prompting derision.
The planned cuts come amidst a 31.5 per cent overall rise in crime in London in the last decade - and a 40 per cent rise in violent crime. Mr Khan has been at pains to point out that some types of crime, such as knife crime, have fallen.
However, the capital is in the throes of a phone theft crisis, with 116,655 mobiles stolen in 2024 - one every five minutes.