Met Police has sold off close to £1 billion in property across London in the past five years amid budget cuts.

A freedom of information release revealed the force raked in big money through the sale of its stations since 2012.

The total includes Walthamstow police station, which was sold for £1 million in 2013 and Wanstead police station, which had been in the Met’s hands since 1885, for £1.6 million a year later.

The force also made a massive £370 million off the sale of New Scotland Yard and £120 million offloading land at Hendon police training centre.

The Met has been forced to find £600 million in savings as a result of central Government cuts since 2010.

Last month, the Guardian Series reported Mayor of London Sadiq Khan had drawn up plans as early as January this year to close front desks at half of the capital’s police stations.

The fresh cuts would likely see just one police station with a 24-hour front desk in most boroughs, with two remaining open in some busier areas.

Redbridge currently has two 24-hour police stations, in Ilford and Barkingside, while the Met’s Woodford station is open between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday.

In Waltham Forest, only Chingford police station operates 24 hours a day, while a police office in Walthamstow High Street is open from 10am to 6pm Tuesday to Saturday.