A police station's front desk has officially closed after the Mayor of London ruled to scale back services.

The front desk at Barnet Police Station in High Street, High Barnet, closed for the last time on Friday after the Mayor of London chose it among other front desk police services to be closed in a shake-up of the service.

MP for Chipping Barnet, Theresa Villiers, called on Mayor Sadiq Khan to reverse his decision to sell off the building, saying he could use a fraction of his reserves to save it from closure.

She said: "The previous mayor considered plans from the Met to close the police station and rejected them. The current Mayor has £0.6 billion in reserves and the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime has £298 million of revenue reserves. Using just a fraction of this could save Barnet Police Station from closure.

"Labour should reverse their decision to shut the station and the other police team centres in the Chipping Barnet constituency."

Ms Villiers believes the Mayor plans to shut the entire station to sell off the building, as well as close all but one of the offices in the constituency where ward teams are based, meaning they may have to do sensitive paperwork in public places.

She believes this may lead to police officers being less present in and around constituency as many will be forced to work from the Barnet Police hub in Colindale.

She added: "The Labour Mayor is short-changing residents in Barnet. He gives us fewer police per head than any other borough in London.

"He should give us a fairer share of police resources in the capital."

The Mayor's office has said that dedicated contact sessions will take place in communities across the borough twice a week to allow for face-to-face interaction with police, and alleviate travel difficulties to get to the front desk at Colindale, which will remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

They added The Broadwalk Centre Safer Neighbourhood Hub will remain open as well, and many ward teams can be deployed from there.

In his initial announcement, Mayor Khan said: "The drastic nature of Government cuts to policing budgets has left us with no choice but to take drastic action and make some very difficult decisions.

"Keeping Londoners safe is my number-one priority, and supporting officers out on the beat in our communities is more important than keeping open buildings that are simply not used by the vast majority of the public, and where just eight per cent of crimes are reported.

"Nevertheless, I understand and share some of the very legitimate concerns of Londoners about these closures. That is why we held the widest possible consultation with public meetings in every London borough and we have listened very carefully to the feedback."

He added that the final plans will maintain the best possible service for Londoners and still provide a 24/7 counter in every borough, as well as an improved online service, but called on ministers to end cuts to policing.