The Met has insisted that local policing will not suffer as a result of Wednesday’s devastating fire, reports Marco Marcelline
The Metropolitan Police has confirmed plans to reopen a public desk at the old police station in Stratford after a fire destroyed the roof of Forest Gate Police Station on Wednesday.
According to Newham policing boss Dan Card, the police force will open the front counter at the station in “due course”. Stratford Police Station was shut alongside Plaistow Police Station in December 2017, leaving Newham with just one public front desk at Forest Gate.
Forest Gate Police Station serves as a key base for officers covering Newham and Waltham Forest. Chingford has the only police station with a front desk in Waltham Forest. The temporary loss of the police station in Forest Gate especially affects residents in Leytonstone and Leyton, as it is closer and more accessible than Chingford.
The Met has said it does not believe the cause of the fire on Wednesday to have been suspicious, while the LFB said that an investigation into the fire was likely to be “protracted” due to its scale and nature.
The LFB was called to the scene at around 4.17pm on Wednesday (6th March) and declared the incident under control at 11.08pm.
LFB crews were called back to the scene this morning after a “small amount of smoke” was spotted during a reinspection earlier.
At a press briefing outside the shut police station yesterday (7th March), the superintendent insisted that the police’s ability to deliver local policing remains “unaffected” by the massive fire.
He added: “Our local teams will continue to serve the community in the usual way and there will be no reduction in the service we deliver.”
Supt Card said that lockers and fridges containing priority forensic samples were protected and removed by police officers and the London Fire Brigade, and “in the coming days” there will be an assessment of the exhibits and property stored in the building.
The superintendent added that police officers had left personal possessions such as wedding rings and car keys behind in the fire, and many uniforms and equipment were destroyed.
Police cars and vans in the Green Street police station’s rear yard were removed quickly however and they continue to be in operational service, he said.
Officers and staff that were based at Forest Gate have been diverted to work from other buildings in Newham in the meantime.
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