MP Jon Cruddas is rallying residents to sign a petition to save Dagenham police station, warning the station’s closure would compromise safety.

More than 1,500 people have signed the online notice and Cruddas is now taking the fight to the doorstep, urging fellow campaigners to order a ‘petition pack’ and gather names on their own streets.

The closure of the Rainham Road station, which has been put forward as a cost-cutting initiative by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, will mean there is only one 24 hour counter in the borough at Barking Learning Centre.

The petition will be presented to the MOPAC committee, which is consulting on the plans before it closes on October 6.

Dagenham and Rainham MP Mr Cruddas said: “We overturned these plans in 2013 and if the community pulls together we can do it again.

“We need more resources, not less. This proposal is a nonsense and will do nothing to alleviate rising levels of violent and moped related crime in our area.

“I regularly meet with the borough commander and he assures me they are prioritising this kind of crime but the bottom line is they are working with limited resources due to government cuts.”

In July, Sadiq Khan said financial constraints means he has “no choice” but to close stations.

He said: “The huge government cuts to the Metropolitan Police Service have left us no choice but to take drastic action to protect the frontline of policing.

“My top priority is keeping Londoners safe, and every pound saved by closing a front counter is a pound of savings we do not have to find by reducing the frontline.”

Only eight per cent of crimes were reported to police at front counters last year, with that figure expected to continue to fall.

Closing the station would mean some witness statements would have to be submitted over the phone.

Mr Cruddas said: “You can’t put a price on people’s safety, which is why I am going to fight this decision all the way.”

You can request a petition pack by sending your name and address to andrew.achilleos@parliament.uk or calling 020 8984 7854.