The proposed sale of Hornchurch police station is under review, the new Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has confirmed.

And the area's MP Julia Lopez has urged constituents to sign a petition to save the station, telling Sir Mark that Havering is the London borough with the highest growth in knife crime.

The future of the station has been in doubt since 2017, when the Mayor’s Office for Police and Crime (MOPAC) proposed to dispose of it.

After this announcement, Havering Council signalled its intention to buy the station and lease it back to MOPAC.

But a final decision on the station’s future has yet to be made and, in December last year, Hornchurch and Upminster MP Julia Lopez wrote to Sir Mark Rowley urging him to retain it.

In his response on March 30, Sir Mark confirmed that while Hornchurch police station had been earmarked for disposal, this decision was now under review.

He told Ms Lopez: “The review of the estate strategy that I have asked for will consider carefully how well the list of properties earmarked for disposal aligns with my strategy and priorities for the Met.

“You rightly highlighted the impact of the uplift in officers, and the review needs to balance those considerations, as well as operational policing requirements in East London.

“The review will take a number of months and we are aiming to publish this summer.”

Ms Lopez has now said that she is planning on meeting the commissioner at the end of this month “to discuss local resourcing, specifically the need for new officers to have a base from which to operate” in the area.

She added that she wanted to ensure that her constituency’s town centres were “not neglected”.

Ms Lopez urged local people to sign the Hornchurch and Upminster Conservative Association’s petition to save the police station, which she said had already gathered more than 800 signatures.

In her letter to Sir Mark requesting that the decision to sell the station be reviewed, Ms Lopez mentioned that Havering is the London borough with the highest growth in knife crime.

She added: “It is clear that additional resourcing is required to tackle this and the rising fear of crime it has generated”.

When contacted by the Recorder in February, a MOPAC spokesperson said that the sale of the station is currently "on hold while the new commissioner considers the impacts of his proposals for reform and improvement on the estate”.

They added: "If the site remains surplus, the sale to the London Borough of Havering is expected to remain the way forward.”