As a fellow resident of Redbridge, like many of you, I’ve been shocked and angered by the recent increase in crime, specifically aggravated burglary, which has been particularly upsetting.

I have attended public meetings, met those affected by these crimes and witnessed the impact on our communities.

Unfortunately, the council does not control the police or sentencing of criminals, but continually tries to work with the police to increase their presence on the streets of Redbridge.

Despite central government funding cuts of around 48%, we are still investing as much as possible in crime prevention.

The police point to the £1billion cut to their funding from the Government, whilst the borough grows at a rapid rate, the police numbers have diminished back to 1985 levels.

To add insult to injury, we have lost most of our police stations, namely, Chadwell, Barkingside, South Woodford and Wanstead, leaving us with just one for the whole of the borough.

Local MPs Mike Gapes, Wes Streeting and John Cryer are on our side and will be putting pressure in Parliament to ask the Government to carry out their first responsibility; to protect the safety of its citizens.

I wrote to the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, on February 6 asking her to reverse the cuts to police budgets and visit Redbridge to witness first-hand the impact of crime on our residents. Sadly, to date, I haven’t even had an acknowledgement of my correspondence.

The one good thing to come out of this is the way residents have rallied around by reaching out to get to know each other and looking out for neighbours, and for this we thank you.

The more we build a sense of community the more resilient and safer we can be as a borough.

We promise to continue to do our part and would love to hear your ideas.