The number of people reporting violent crime in Lewisham has risen sharply in the past five years.

Since the start of 2012 until the end of 2017 – there has been a 67.9 per cent increase in violent crimes reported to police.

The violent crime figures in the borough have risen each year since 2012.

In 2012 – there were 5,464 ‘violent crimes against a person’ reported in Lewisham.

Last year, this figure was almost doubled to 9,179.

News Shopper reported in February how Lewisham police was joining with Bexley and Greenwich forces, as Mayor Sadiq Khan revealed his plan to replace the 32 borough system.

Vicky Foxcroft, MP for Deptford and Lewisham, said: "If the financial situation were different I don’t believe this would be happening. This is due to continued government cuts to policing.

“I have been meeting with the borough commander and the head of community safety on the council to find ways to make sure we can mitigate anything that goes wrong.

“I feel very strongly that we can’t keep making cuts. It’s not just the police that are being cut – all public services are being cut, from the NHS to education. They are reaching breaking point."

Below is a breakdown in violent crimes carried out against a person in Lewisham in the last five years:

February 2012 - December 2012: 5,464

January 2013 - December: 2013: 6,031

January 2014 - December 2014: 6,996

January 2015 - December 2015: 8,496

January 2016 - December 2016: 8,928

January 2017 - December 2017: 9,179

Statistics for January 2012 were omitted from the Met Police's Crime Data Dashboard.