Police target Tube fare dodgers

Police have begun a clampdown on fare dodgers after they found that many of them are muggers and street robbers travelling to criminal hot-spots to find a victim.

The joint initiative between the Metropolitan Police, British Transport Police and London Underground revenue inspectors, called Operation Anapurna, is part of Scotland Yard's Safer Streets campaign. It began its first operation last night after new analysis showed the majority of street crimes happen within a 250 metre radius of a Tube station.

Before the operation, Detective Inspector Matt Sarti, of the Westminster Crime and Intelligence unit, said they would focus on Oxford Circus and Bond Street Tube stations for the early part of the evening, moving to Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square.

Mr Sarti said: "From intelligence we have gathered, we have seen that street crime seems to shift from the Oxford Circus and Bond Street areas in the early evening down to Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus towards the end of the night.

"We want to hit the street criminals at the source and the transport system is how these people come into the centre of town. The real purpose of this is prevention of crime - if we stop any criminals coming into the centre of town then it has been a success. Our presence at the Tube stations will also reassure the public."

More than 40 plain clothes and uniform police joined inspectors both on the platforms and at station ticket barriers, the intention being that if fare dodgers turned back after spotting uniformed officers, they would be caught by those behind them.

By the end of the operation 15 arrests had been made for a variety of crimes from disorderly conduct to possession of a knife. London Underground revenue inspectors reported 101 fare evasion offences.