South Harrow police station will remain open 24 hours a day despite £325 million of government cuts and Harrow's impending 'tri-borough' merger with Barnet and Brent.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan pledged in August 2017 that he would keep the station open after more than 600 people signed a petition against its closure started by Harrow West MP Gareth Thomas .

Now Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Rose, borough commander for Harrow, Brent and Barnet, wants to reassure concerned residents that Harrow will continue to have "one of the best emergency response times in London".

Simon Rose, Borough commander for Harrow, Brent and Barnet
Simon Rose, Borough commander for Harrow, Brent and Barnet

He said: "I’m aware that many residents are concerned that Harrow Police station is closing. I’d like to reassure them that this is not the case and that the station will still be used by local police officers from various different teams.

"The station office will still be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 362 days a year.

"Harrow police Station will be going through a refurbishment in 2019 but during this time, it will still be in use by officers.

"The Harrow emergency response teams will be parading out of Wembley Police Station and patrols will continue as normal throughout the borough of Harrow.

"Officers from Wembley will have an approximate nine minute drive to Harrow Police Station, less in emergencies.

"Harrow has one of the best emergency response times in London and the teams will still be hitting their target of getting to an emergency call within 15 minutes."

A number of specialist teams will work out of the station, such as the Pro-active Team, the Neighbourhood Tasking Team and Safer Neighbourhood Teams, which DCSI Rose added "are not changing in any way".

The new 12 Basic Command Units (BCUs)

Despite accusations that Sadiq Khan's plan to merge London boroughs into Basic Command Units was "gambling with Londoner's safety" , DCSI Rose said that it would actually improve policing in Harrow.

He said: "With the tri-borough merger process starting on November 12, we will have a larger pool of officers to deploy to areas where there is a high demand.

"The level of policing in Harrow will be better for the borough, as there will be access to these additional officers when needed."