THE chief of policing in Waltham Forest has said he is “seriously disappointed” with a rise in reported crime last year but insists it has fallen in the long term.

Chief Supt Steve Wisbey also said he was hopeful there would be no reductions in the number of officers despite future funding cuts, but did hint that some buildings could be sold off.

It comes after Home Office figures revealed that recorded crime in Waltham Forest rose last year, despite the British Crime Survey suggesting a nationwide fall.

According to the latest statistics, cases of gun crime are up by 14 per cent, with rapes up 29 per cent, and robbery up 17 per cent, although murders fell from ten in 2008/09 to four.

Chief Supt Wisbey said: “I'm seriously disappointed with the figures particularly as youth violence and gun crime is up, but we have to remember that every crime on its own has a victim.

“It's a complex issue how crime is recorded but the bottom line is that is has come down in the last five or six years - but the problem is the statistics are measured compared with the year previously.”

Chief Sup Wisbey, who was appointed borough commander in April, said that youth violence was a top priority and that a “gang team” had been set-up in partnership with Waltham Forest Council.

Shift patterns have also been changed to ensure more police work on evenings and at weekends.

But he acknowledged that further changes would have to be made ahead of budget cuts.

He said: “All buildings are being looked at but I have the commitment of the police authority that they will not close a police station without replacing it with a suitable facility.

“Leytonstone police station has not been used for a period of time. There's a real possibility of it being sold off”.

He added: “I'd like to co-locate some of my staff in the community, I don't see why we can't have staff in a hospital building or a library or a transport hub like Walthamstow Central.”

Chief Supt Wisbey added that the high-profile investigations into the Walthamstow murders of Michelle Samaraweera last May and Melita Jo in October 2008 were still very much on-going.

He added: “I can't go into specifics but I am re-assured that we are working just as actively now as we were in the immediate days after those offences occurred.”