Sutton police station’s custody suite – where suspects are taken after being arrested - is closing next year amid the Met’s controversial borough policing shake-up.

The decision will see it shut in early 2019 as Sutton becomes merged with Bromley and Croydon into a borough command unit (BCU).

Though it’s expected to be in the “first quarter” of next year, an exact date for the closure of the suite in Carshalton Road has not yet been confirmed.

A Sutton police spokesman said: “The Sutton custody suite was shared by Merton and Sutton boroughs. Merton are now part of the already formed south west BCU, and have moved their prisoner processing to custody suites in the south west.

“Sutton borough prisoners will be taken to the custody facility in the borough of Croydon at Windmill Road.”

He confirmed this to be part of the Met’s major BCU plans, having already seen Kingston, Merton, Richmond, and Wandsworth form together.

Bromley, Croydon, and Sutton are expected to be part of the “third wave” of merges, which police chiefs hope will be completed by next February.

A custody suite is an area within a police station where officers process people who have been arrested.

This can involve cells for prisoners, interview rooms, and offices where documents are filled out, for example.

Since the closure, Sutton’s MPs have given their views – with one saying it’s “very disappointing” while the other underlined possible advantages from the merger.

Sutton and Cheam MP Paul Scully said most detainees in the custody suite have been from Merton, and it is being closed for now – rather than scrapped entirely – so it can be used later if required.

He added: “The police need to be trusted to organise their day-to-day operations but we need to keep an eye on the long-term effect of such changes.

“A key benefit as a result of the merger is an uplift in neighbourhood policing across Sutton, which is what residents tell me they want to see.”

But Carshalton and Wallington MP Tom Brake believes people want to see “well-funded, visible, community-based policing, not cuts and mergers”.

He added: “I’m proud of Sutton’s record as one of the safest boroughs in London, but that could all be put at risk by this move.

“Officers will be forced to take prisoners all the way to Croydon to be processed, wasting valuable time they could spend on the beat.”