The Metropolitan Police is to close five of its 13 bases in Croydon to save money.

Scotland Yard will “decommission” the safer neighbourhood policing bases over the next few months, leaving the borough with just one for every 48,000 people.

Bases in Selsdon, Addiscombe, Coulsdon, Shirley and Upper Norwood will be shut to save the Metropolitan Police £118,000 a year.

A force spokesman said the “underused” buildings, which are not open the public, were “no longer required for operational purposes”.

She added: “All but one currently has no public access. All staff, officers and equipment will be redistributed into the nearest operational facility within the relevant borough.

“Underused police buildings such as these, which are not of benefit to the public, are being sold to enable the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime and the Met Police to provide a more efficient service and protect frontline officers, maintaining total numbers at around 32,000 with an additional 2,600 officers moved into neighbourhood teams.”

Cllr Mark Watson, cabinet member for communities, safety and justice, said he was “concerned” about police cuts but predicted the loss of the bases would not have a “huge impact”.

He said: “I think some of them haven’t been used for quite some time anyway and it is just part of that process of the police having to find cuts.

“We are concerned about police cuts and we are concerns about police on the streets but on this basis it is not the number one concern.”

He added: “It would be better not to have them closed, it would be better to have those places staffed so people can get to them, that is what I would like to see.”

Across London, 15 bases are closed as part of the Met Police strategy to “get rid of inefficient buildings that are no longer required” and “invest in new, modern facilities fit for 21st century policing”.

The force said the closure of the bases would save £423,000 a year in total.

In 2013, the Mayor’s Office closed publicly accessible front counters at five of the Croydon police stations in South Norwood, Kenley, Purley, Addington and Norbury.