Wanstead Police Station will close on Monday, police have confirmed.

The plans were approved back in March and Redbridge Borough Commander Sue Williams said it would shut this month, but police had previously been unable to say exactly when.

The branch, in Spratt Hall Road, is closing as part of a range of cuts designed to save the Met £500million across London by 2015.

Instead of the station police will have a 'contact point' at Wanstead House community centre in The Green, although residents will not be able to report crimes there.

It will be staffed by one police officer or community support officer for three hours a week, between 7pm and 8pm every Wednesday and Thursday, along with 2pm to 3pm on Saturdays - starting this week.

If residents want to report crimes they must call police who will then send a officers in an 'appointment car' to their homes to get further details.

Residents campaigned against the closure of Wanstead Police Station amid fears that it would reduce the public's access to officers and increase the time it took for police to arrive at incidents in the area.

But police say the shake-up will improve services and said 86 extra officers would be deployed in the borough over the next two years.

Detective Chief Superintendent Williams told the Guardian earlier this month that the Wanstead Police Station building will most likely be sold off by the Met and will not be used for any other police work.