Muggings soar during Bush visit

Muggings across London rose by 20 per cent as thousands of officers were moved from their regular beats to police US President Bush's state visit, Scotland Yard said today.

Reports of street robberies rose from an average 150 a day to 180 over the three days of the visit, a spokesman said.

Police worked 14,000 shifts during the visit and more than 5,000 were on duty on the day of the protest march in central London.

Commander John Yates, in charge of the fight against street crime in the capital, said there was no evidence of a rise in other crimes such as burglary.

He said: "Street crime is the one that benefits from high-visibility policing and good covert tactics.

"We have seen it every time we have a major event in the capital."