The Metropolitan Police is cutting half of its horses and mounted officers in a bid to fill a £260m hole in its budget for the coming year.

The London force plans to reduce its mounted section by 69 officers and 10 staff, and as many as 40 of its horses will be “retired, redeployed to other forces or suitably rehomed”.

The Met currently has 93 horses and 120 officers, plus 32 staff, at its sites in Bow, Hammersmith, West Hampstead, Lewisham, Great Scotland Yard, Hyde Park and Imber Court.

Five of those sites are scheduled to close. In all, 1,700 jobs will go across the force.

‘Tough choices’

A Met spokesperson said: “We are prioritising resources and putting more officers on the beat in the busiest parts of London to focus on core policing priorities to protect the public and tackle areas with high crime.

“Due to our financial constraints, we’re making tough choices and one of those is to reduce the Met’s Mounted Branch.  

“The Met continues to have the largest Mounted Branch in the country, who will focus on policing high crime areas and high-profile public order and ceremonial events.

“We are beginning formal Trade Union and staff consultations to test this proposal and started communicating internally in August on how this will happen, supporting officers, staff and the horses impacted.”

High visibility patrols

The Met’s Mounted Branch dates back to 1760, when it was introduced to combat the problem of highwaymen in London.   

Today, the team takes part in high visibility patrols, escorting the military and the Royal Household in central London, community engagement, crowd control at sporting events, demonstrations, public order events, and state ceremonial occasions such as Trooping the Colour.

Main image of the Met’s mounted police patrolling at changing of the guard ceremony in front of Buckingham Palace in London © Shutterstock

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