MORE than 200 residents have signed a petition opposing the closure of Wealdstone police station after it emerged that the Metropolitan Police Authority was planning to sell the listed building in High Street.

Members of Wealdstone Active Community fear Wealdstone would suffer if there was not an active police presence in the area.

WAC spokesman David Higgins said: "The response from shoppers was incredulity and amazement that the police can be proposing to close the station without making any attempt to consult local residents.

"Wealdstone has been deteriorating for years, and we need a police presence. We will not take this lying down. We will fight to keep the police station open and are calling for a public meeting where individuals and groups can find out exactly what is going on and what the options being proposed are."

Harrow East MP Tony McNulty condemned the proposed closure as a "kick in the teeth for a community that is trying to rebuild and regenerate" and said: "If the police planners think that Wealdstone is best served by a police station based miles away in South Harrow, it is essential that we make them think again."

All six Wealdstone and Malborough ward councillors expressed their anger at the lack of consultation in a statement whichsaid: "The police and MPA have kept the issue very quiet. Local councillors and members of the public have not been consulted. This is certainly not helpful as the issue is now subject to rumour and conjecture. We need to know what the real options are and we are not going to let this issue drop."

Borough police commander Chief Superintendent Alex Fish said: "Wealdstone police station has been under threat of closure for a long time, so I submitted a business case to the MPA to keep it open and to explore using part of the building for some joint partnership.

"I was optimistic as I had been guaranteed that even if the station were sold, an alternative would be funded in the Wealdstone area. Suddenly, things changed. I was advised that the business case had been rejected by the MPA and that the alternative had been dropped due to a lack of funding.

"I then contacted the local authority to see if it had any premises we could share. Initial enquiries look hopeful, particularly as the assistant commissioner for territorial policing assured me this week of some funding to support this work."

MPA chairman Lord Toby Harris said that when it considered Mr Fish's proposal, the authority was not aware that rejection would mean the closure of the police station and it was prepared to reconsider.

May 15, 2003 10:00