Crime blackspots denied new police

Residents in some of London's worst crime blackspots are being denied extra police, the Standard can reveal today.

Six out of seven boroughs where crime levels have risen by up to eight per cent - far above the London average - will not get any new beat bobbies. At the same time, boroughs where crime is falling are to get dozens of new officers.

The capital's 600 new beat officers are paid for by the Greater London Authority. The Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA), which oversees Scotland Yard, then decides which boroughs they should go to.

But the Standard has discovered a series of anomalies in the way in which the 600 police are allocated.

These include:

Today several council leaders called for a radical change in the way the extra police are allocated to boroughs.

Simon Milton, leader of Westminster council, said: "We have been protesting about the allocation formula for a long time now.

"Under the formula, Westminster would actually see a cut in the numbers of police. It was only by lobbying the commissioner to use his discretion that we managed to prevent that happening. We have been told that there is no prospect of an increase in numbers."

Mr Milton added that the formula for allocating police had been based on population figures from the last census - which Westminster claims are flawed because many of its residents boycotted it - and does not take into account the fact that the borough's police deal with huge numbers of non-residents who work and relax in the borough.

"We do not think population is a clever way to set up the formula," he said.

Tony Arbour, leader of Richmond council, said: "If you've paid the council tax, you should see the police."

But the Metropolitan Police Authority today said the formula was the fairest method possible. Graham Tope, who chaired the MPA review panel, said: "The formula is for the distribution of the total number of officers, not just the number of additional ones.

"We are increasing the number of police across most boroughs, although not all. But we are also putting in place additional community support officers."