MORE than 30 people have been arrested in Waltham Forest as part of a police crackdown on domestic violence.

The Met launched the London-wide Operation Athena on Monday (November 26) with a series of dawn raids.

In Waltham Forest police have confirmed 32 people have been taken into custody out of more than 320 arrests across the capital.

It comes in the wake of the UN's International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women at the weekend.

In support of the awareness-raising event, Waltham Forest Council revealed last week that Victim Support staff in the borough had over 2,000 cases of domestic violence reported to them in 2011.

However the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said it believes the number of incidents in London to be far higher, with many cases going unreported to the authorities.

Assistant Met Commissioner Simon Byrne, in charge of Territorial Policing, launched the operation this week.

He said: "There is no place in London for domestic violence or those cowardly crimes committed because of someone's race, religion, sexuality or disability. It is the offenders who should live in fear - of our knock at the door."

Police say arrests include those suspected of offences including assault, harassment, criminal damage, rape and threats to kill.

The operation is set to continue with further raids up until tomorrow (Friday November 30).

The Guardian is awaiting further information from police about the arrests in Waltham Forest.