Police recruit numbers at Hendon's Peel Centre are not dwindling, despite fears to the contrary.

Decreasing police numbers have been the subject of much debate over the past few months with many Barnet residents lamenting the lack of a police presence on the streets of Barnet. At last month's Borough Watch annual meeting ,, the umbrella organisation for Barnet's Neighbourhood Watch schemes ,, residents and Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinators criticised cuts which have coincided with a marked rise in burglary, street and violent crime in the borough.

Councillor Monroe Palmer said: 'I have been told that in April the Peel Centre were taking no recruits at all. Without recruits the Met will quickly be even harder pressed than they are now.'

A Colindale police officer, who does not wish to be named, said: 'We have had our squad cut in half. I'm used to working a 12 to 14-hour day.

'When I first came here it was a much smaller ground but now we cover 70 square miles. We would want at least 60 to 70 officers to cover that ,, but if we have got 25 we are doing well.'

But a spokeswoman for the Peel Centre in Hendon denied that recruits numbers were down. 'Numbers are not down and it is not true there were none booked in for April ,, in fact numbers were up,' she said.