Police numbers in Westminster keep on falling - official figures confirm

4.23.02pm GMT Sat 17th Mar 2007

The number of police officers in Westminster has fallen in each of the last two years, official figures released to local Liberal Democrats under the Freedom of Information Act confirm.

Fewer and fewer police officers are patrolling the streets of Westminster

In 2006 the number of police officers in Westminster fell by 45 from the 2005 figure, which itself had fallen by six officers on the 2004 total. Overall, in the last two years Westminster has lost 51 officers.

Local LibDem Mark Blackburn said:

"These figures reveal the reality of Labour's record on law and order. We are seeing fewer and fewer police officers on Westminster 's streets. That is no way to combat crime, no way to reassure the public, and with the ever-present terrorist threat it is most certainly no way to keep central London 's streets safe.

"Liberal Democrats want to see more police officers on Britain 's streets. We would pay for this by abandoning Labour's expensive and highly wasteful plans for ID cards. That money would be much better spent on extra police officers on the streets of Westminster and elsewhere.

"We can cut crime and one key way to achieve that is, quite simply, for us to have more police officers on our streets, not fewer."

Between April 2004 and April 2006, the total number of police officers in Westminster fell from 1,602 to 1,551.