CHARGES police make for returning stolen vehicles to their owners have been suspended.
The Metropolitan Police Authority, which oversees the force, called a halt to the charges on December 20.
In 2006, the Met made more than £180,000 by charging owners to have their vehicles returned.
The money was made through Operation Recover, a pilot scheme which began in September 2005 in the boroughs of Greenwich, Lewisham, Bromley, Southwark, and Croydon.
It involved charging Londoners for the safe recovery and storage of their vehicles.
The suspension followed concerns raised by Graham Tope, the Liberal Democrat policing spokesman on the London Assembly .
Mr Tope said: "Victims of crime in London have been robbed twice.
"By charging to recover stolen property, people are being punished for their misfortune."
A Met police spokesman said a full report on the pilot scheme would be made to a Metropolitan Police Authority committee later this year.
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