The safest borough in London has been named as Kingston for the second year in a row.

Annual crime data released by the Metropolitan Police Service shows there were 10,599 notifiable offences, which the police are obliged to inform the Home Office about for statistical purposes.

Second and third lowest Sutton and Richmond recorded 11,011 and 11,771 respectively.

The Kingston figure rose 4.3 per cent compared with the previous year, lower than the 4.6 per cent rise across the whole MPS area.

Big wins include a 21 per cent reduction in drug possession and the first fall in domestic abuse in recent years.

Kingston Borough Commander, T/Chief Superintendent Anthony Enoch, said: “We are working hard with our partners and the public to reduce and solve crime in the borough.

“Kingston has the lowest volume of crime of any borough in London, for the second year running, and I’m pleased to also add, the second highest detection rate. This I hope goes some way to reassuring our residents that Kingston is a very safe place to live, work and visit.”

In a recent survey by Kingston Council, 94 per cent of respondents said they felt safe when outside in the area during the day, and 75 per cent said they felt safe after dark, up 10 per cent compared with previous findings.

Director of Finance at Kingston Council, Leigh Whitehouse, and Chair of the Safer Kingston Partnership, said: “Our collective vision is that people who live, work and visit Kingston, should not only be safe, they should feel safe too.

“A particular focus for partners has been improving the safety and diversity of Kingston’s night-time economy over that past year so it’s very encouraging to see people’s confidence increasing after dark.

“The renewal of Kingston’s Purple Flag status and co-ordination of Kingston’s growing Pubwatch are just some of the initiatives lead by the partnership to improve safety at night, along with extra policing in the town centre.

"An additional 12 police officers were funded by the council to support this increased presence, and clearly it has paid dividends. We hope MPS commits to making this additional resource available in the future.”

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