A Havering MP has requested a minister "encourage the mayor" to act on Hornchurch police station amid doubts over its future.

Julia Lopez, MP for Hornchurch and Upminster, recently raised the issue of the police station in the House of Commons, asking the minister for crime and policing, Tom Pursglove, to encourage the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to maintain police bases in every part of the capital.

She said: “In his most recent letter to me, mayor Khan admitted that the Met Police now has more officers than at any time in its history thanks to the national uplift under this home secretary.

“He has also confirmed that he will push ahead with plans to sell Hornchurch police station, the only base for officers in my constituency.

“Since a major review is now underway into the Met on his watch, will the minister encourage the mayor to use this moment to reflect on his own performance and whether he is doing enough to make sure every part of the capital has bases from which officers can operate?”

Mr Pursglove responded by noting the rise in officers, claiming it is "time for the mayor to show up and deliver”.

This comes after proposals were put forward by MOPAC in 2017 to close down both Hornchurch and Rainham police stations.

Following a judicial review led by Havering Council, however, the local authority was given approval in July 2018 to buy the station and lease it back to MOPAC.

Then the purchase stalled in 2019 when the government announced it wanted to recruit 20,000 more officers nationally.

At the time, MOPAC said it wanted to assess the impact this would have on Met services, with the station still not bought by the council when queried earlier this year.

Both MOPAC and Havering Council told the Recorder in August that discussions remain ongoing regarding the station’s future.

The council's leader, Cllr Ray Morgon, added that the priority is to ensure the area concerned is effectively policed.

“The most important thing is that we see this increase in police officers patrolling our streets to deal with a growing population," he said. "So, if this means we need to still purchase the police station, then we will continue those discussions."