Police are taking 60 emergency calls a day in Bexley as crime figures increase on last year - amidst plans to sell off a police station in the town centre.  

Over the past 12 months the police at Bexley have investigated just under 14,500 crimes, up ten per cent on last year. 

Figures show burglary is up 15 per cent, while domestic violence in Bexley is at a five year high.

And there have been over 5,000 calls in the last 12 months regarding anti-social behaviour, again up ten per cent on last year.

Bexley Borough Commander Stuart Bell said demand for policing was continuing to rise, but said at a recent council meeting that there would be an extra ten ward officers in the borough before Christmas bringing the total number to 42.

He said: "That will mean each of the current wards on the borough will have two dedicated ward PCs and a PCSO.

"When we go to the realigned ward boundaries we will retain that number meaning some wards in the new arrangement will have three PCs which I think is good."

One of the biggest growing issues in the borough is reckless bike riding, which according to Mr Bell is difficult to tackle.

He added: "The use of the PSPO in the town centre has worked well policing that, taking bikes of people. Let us know where and when it is happening and we will do the best we can to respond to it.

"I do think a young person could be hurt or killed. We need to differentiate between criminality and unsafe riding."

According to a report submitted to Bexley Council, there has been an increase in the number of people riding motorbikes recklessly. 

A councillor recently told News Shopper that the north of the borough was becoming a hotspot for dangerous riding. 

Meanwhile, more than two thousand people signed a petition last month to keep Bexleyheath Station open after Mayor of London Sadiq Khan held a consultation on plans to sell off the frontline services and move facilities to Marlowe House in Sidcup.

MPs, the council and local neighbourhood watch groups spoke out against the plans, claiming that selling of the station would be detrimental to communities.

*Police say this year's burglary figures, although up on last year, are down compared to five years ago.