Richmond will miss out on a bobby bonanza if draft proposals by the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) are passed next week.

A delegation from Richmond met with Deputy Police Commissioner Ian Blair a fortnight ago to argue the case for more resources for the under-manned division.

The borough had been expecting to receive between 30 and 50 extra officers under the Mets new policing formula.

But the draft figures which will be formally approved on Monday indicate Richmond will just receive 15 new officers, which would only cover the existing shortfall in numbers.

The news angered Twickenham MP Vincent Cable, who fired off a letter to the chairman of the MPA, Lord Tope, accusing him of caving in to the demands for resources from high crime areas.

He said: Yet again, failure to deal with crime in places like Lambeth is being rewarded and generally law abiding boroughs like ours, where there is nonetheless a serious fear of crime and problems of vandalism and anti-social behaviour, are penalised by having their police resources stripped to the bone.

Mr Cable argued that Richmond, which is the third safest borough in London, would not be able to tackle issues affecting residents without additional resources.

Mark Toland, acting Chief Superintendent of Richmond Police, is keeping an open mind about the figures.

He said he was disappointed the division would not be receiving as many officers as had originally been anticipated, but stressed it did not mean Richmond would lose out completely.

He added: I am delighted we have not lost any police officers because that is a worry with any formula. Whilst the numbers are not as many as we had been anticipating, we will still see an increase.

Police chiefs are already looking at where the new resources would be best deployed to tackle crime, but the division has received no indication when it might receive the new officers.

By.Helen Barnes