Putney stays safe

December saw very little change in our crime figures - Putney remains one of the safest parts of London with very much safer streets in almost every part of the constituency than anywhere else in the borough or capital.

Crime fell again in Roehampton, Southfields, West Hill and West Putney - in the case of Southfields markedly, suggesting that November's much higher figures were a blip. West Hill and West Putney wards have a crime rate almost half that of the London average: a remarkable figure and testament to the work of the local Police Community Support teams that are making such a difference to our patch.

But I'm getting really concerned about the level of theft and mugging in Putney town centre, which is behind the high Thamesfield crime figures.

Three years ago the Tory Council had the opportunity of introducing town centre patrollers to Putney - the Government had funded them in Clapham Junction and Tooting town centres with the result that street crime fell by a third. But instead of seizing the chance to make Putney High Street safer, the Council refused to find the funds to employ them (an amount equivalent to about 5p per week on council tax) - and worse still, sacked the ones in Clapham Junction and Tooting.

Correcting this situation and bringing town centre patrollers to Putney is one of the ten points in my Save Putney High Street campaign. Please complete my Save Putney High Street survey and give me your views on how to cut crime in the town centre, and on other aspects of the problems blighting the area.

Here are the crime figures for December by ward, with comparisons for the whole borough and Greater London:




And here, as usual, is the previous month's table for comparison: