Kingston has recorded the lowest crime figures in London, according to new stats released by the Metropolitan Police today.

The borough had 9,593 recorded incidents in the 12 months up to September this year, including 2,073 violent assaults, 1,265 burglaries, 45 rapes and two murders.

The numbers are down 12.5 per cent on last year, when police dealt with 10,959 crimes.

The biggest individual drop was in robbery of a person, which fell almost 40 per cent from 223 incidences to 160.

Violence on a person also fell considerably, down from 2,338 to 2,073, while the total number of burglaries was down by 8.2 per cent.

Individual crimes all fell except for sexual offences excluding rape, which increased by eight to 100 incidents, and Islamaphobia, which doubled from two incidents to four.

Gary Taylor, Kingston's chief inspector for neighbourhood policing, said: "We have focused on what impacts people the most in Kingston, and we've prioritised burglary, theft and violence on a person.

"The results show how much effort we've put into cutting crime in the borough.

"We're proud of the fact it's the lowest crime rate in London and we will work hard to keep it that way."

Chief insp Taylor said greater public awareness had helped cut burglary figures, while the introduction of photo ID checker Scan Net in five of Kingston's busiest late night venues had been an important factor in the drop in violent crime.

He said: "The public have been great in calling us to report suspicious behaviour, and we want them to continue making those calls.

"The drop in violence is also considerable, and that's a lot less victims than for the same period last year.

"We've used technology like Scan Net a lot better, we've been working closely with licensees and thought about how we deploy police in the town centre.

"It's also about educating people, and making people aware of our banning system called the red card scheme, which means we can ban people from pubs and clubs if they commit violence.

"That holds a lot of leverage over people - if you come in to the town with the intention of causing violence you will not be welcomed back."

Crime across London fell by 9.2 per cent, with the Met recording 728,185 incidents this year, down from 795,265.

What do you think? Leave your comments below or email newsdesk@surreycomet.co.uk