Violent crime dramatically increased across South East London last year.

According to figures released by the Metropolitan Police, the number of violent crimes rose by 14% in Lewisham and 22% in Greenwich.

This means there were 1162 more violent crimes in Greenwich when compared with last year and 837 more in Lewisham.

London Assembly Member for Greenwich and Lewisham, Len Duvall, said: "If this had been a dramatic change in recording we would expect to see a one off spike.

"Instead what we are seeing is a worrying trend developing with overall violent crime across most categories on the up.

The number of violent crimes in Greenwich over the 2013/2014 period were 6388 and there were 6810 in Lewisham.

Every borough in London experienced a rise in violent crime over the same period with an additional 35,330 crimes across the city and an increase of 24%.

Mr Duvall added: "Violent crime includes some of the most serious and worrying offences and people in Greenwich and Lewisham are right to be concerned.

"The Mayor of London needs to see the jump in violent crime for what it is, not a statistical anomaly but a growing problem they should be actively addressing."

Operation Equinox was launched by Metropolitan Police to combat the rise of violent crime across the city.

The operation will focus on crimes occurring between the times of 6pm and 6am, when a high proportion of violent crimes occur.

MPS lead for Operation Equinox, Commander Lucy D'Orsi, said: "Operation Equinox will continue to support victims of violent crime and will take a firm approach with those intent on committing violence.

"London is one of the safest cities in the world and the MPS is determined to use all of its resources to stem the rise in violent crime and bring before the courts those who commit violence in communities."