Hillingdon's Borough Commander has given up his car in a series of cost-cutting measures by the police, but he insists it will increase his productivity.
Chief Superintendent Carl Bussey says he will be able to get more done working from a laptop on the move than he could driving in and out of central London in his hire car for meetings, which used to take hours out of his day.
Five hire cars and 200 internal phone lines are being given up by Hillingdon's constabulary towards meeting a target of £250,000 the police force has to save.
Chief Superintendent Bussey believes the measures ensure 'minimal impact' on service, and are a more viable solution than removing officers from the front line or cutting overtime hours.
He said: "Four years ago a lot of boroughs had to make the savings and we chose not to, but now those have to be met. I've looked at reducing the budget with minimal impact and found five hire cars that can go back, including mine.
"It means I can work on the move, which I couldn't do when I was driving, as obviously using a laptop at the wheel is an offence.
"With the phone lines going it won't affect the public at all, it will just mean changes internally - people will still be able to ring us."
The Commander accepts the decision has come at a bad time with the economic climate changing for the worse, but he has made it to avoid any redundancies in the force.
"This is all from a decision made four years ago, but I am dealing with it now," he said. "The last thing I want to do is leave it as a legacy for my successor.
"I have looked to cutting more mundane things like cars and phone lines, rather than those which directly affect the service, such as staff reduction."
