Met chief and Norris clash

London's police chief has clashed bitterly with Tory mayoral candidate Steve Norris over claims that violent crime is soaring in the capital.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens launched a savage attack on Mr Norris after he suggested that assaults had gone up by 30 per cent from 2000 to 2004.

Speaking at a mayoral hustings meeting hosted by the Police Federation, Mr Norris said that "violent crime has risen consistently in the past four years".

A furious Sir John immediately retorted that the statistics-were misleading. "I'm not going to sit here and listen to those figures.

"They are from a Tory think-tank, Civitas," he said. "Figures from the Metropolitan Police Authority show violent crime is down by 5 per cent.

"The figures to be released in two weeks' time will recognisethe excellent work that has been done in this area." Sir John was also angry that Mr Norris had included figures for common assault in the overall statistics for violent crime.

Although the Home Office classifies common assault as violence, the majority do not involve the victim even being touched by the criminal. The row, the most spectacular yet in the mayoral race, came as all candidates vied for the support of the police lobby.

Ken Livingstone has put law and order at the centre of his re-election campaign - citing a record rise in police numbers to more than 30,000.

But the Tories and Liberal Democrat candidate Simon Hughes have attacked Mr Livingstone for removing bobbies from the suburbs to police central London against terror attacks.

Despite coming under fire over the crime figures, Mr Norris won the backing of several police officers when he called for them to be routinely armed. A recent survey by the Metropolitan Police Federation found that more than 90 per cent of policemen and women are prepared to carry guns if necessary.

Mr Norris's aides claimed today that he was not quoting Tory figures but was instead referring to statistics on the Met's own website. A spokeswoman said that common assault was often a violent experience for most victims.

Glen Smyth, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said of the call for police to be routinely armed: "Officers don't want it to happen, but they are prepared to do it because they are extremely concerned about the threats on the streets."