Civilian staff at the Metropolitan Police have voted in favour of strike action after being told to come into the office for three days-a-week.

Just over 50 per cent of Scotland Yard's 2,400 Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) members backed industrial action, sparking a divide with the force's bobbies on the beat.

The Metropolitan Police employs around 11,000 civilian staff who enjoy generous hybrid working arrangements.

Some members of staff, including 999 call handlers and child protection officers, only need to enter the office as little as twice a week.

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Police bosses have recently asked desk staff to increase the amount of time they spend in the office, in order to better-support front-line workers.

Each department will see their increase go up by 20 per cent from the new year.

The PCS union said that asking staff to come into the office would subject them to the "stress of the daily commute" and was outrageous.d:

Fran Heathcote, the PCS general secretary, said: “Our members are not bobbies on the beat. They are desk-based civilians who work from home just as productively as if they were in the office but without the stress and cost of a daily commute.

“It’s time politicians and the Right-wing media stopped their obsession with telling people where they have to work and started listening to the evidence of academics, employers and employees that shows working from home is a perfectly viable option for many people.”

However, a senior Scotland Yard source voiced dismay about the situation given the working environment experienced by the force's police officers.

"We have got officers risking their lives on the streets every day so it beggars belief that some staff are not willing to come into the office three days a week," the insider told The Telegraph.