Labour’s new Parliamentary Candidate for Sutton and Cheam has backed a report calling for more neighbourhood policing.

Emily Brothers has slammed the Tory-led Government for cutting the number of frontline officers.

On Monday, former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Stevens published his Independent Police Commission Review – the most comprehensive analysis of policing for half a century.

The review makes several recommendations on the future of policing in England and Wales, including a renewed focus on neighbourhood policing.

Ms Brothers said: “Policing has been hit hard by the scale and pace of the Coalition Government’s cuts to local budgets. The Metropolitan Police Service has lost 1,700 police officers over the last three years and across the country we’ve lost over 10,000 frontline officers.

“The police are doing what they can despite this 5.9% cut, but these cuts are having a detrimental effect on their ability to do their job and now we see that neighbourhood policing is also taking a hit as well.

“Neighbourhood policing is an integral part of the fight against crime and anti-social behaviour, and we need a renewed focus on it that is rooted in the local community.

“Under the Tories we’ve seen police services grow more remote from those that they serve but the next Labour Government will make sure that this trend is reversed.”