A politician claims the Government’s “unwillingness” to properly fund London’s police services is compromising their ability to keep Londoners safe.

New figures released by City Hall today show the number of police officers per 1,000 people in London has fallen to 3.3 – the lowest number in 20 years.

The statistics also revealed that Metropolitan Police spending per head in London fell by 20 per cent from 2012 to 2016 – faster than any other police force in the country.

London Assembly member for Waltham Forest, Jennette Arnold said: “It’s now clear that the Government’s unwillingness to properly fund London’s police services is compromising the Met’s ability to keep Londoners safe.”

Since 2010 government funding to the Metropolitan Police has been cut by £700 million.

The number of police officers in London has also dropped below 30,000 for the first-time in 15 years.

Mr Arnold said the cuts had put police services under a level of strain not seen before.

She added: “London has not escaped the national increase in serious violence, but we cannot solely leave it to our under-resourced police force to confront this intolerable rise.

“It’s time for all hands on deck. We need every section of the community – not least families, schools, and the police – coming together to tackle this disgraceful trend.

“The bottom line is we need police officers in place to carry out law enforcement, the Government cannot continue to abdicate their responsibility to give London’s police the funding they need to make this happen.”

The murder rate in London has risen above 75 so far this year and Metropolitan Police statistics show that up to May this year, 970 knives and 98 firearms have been recovered from London’s streets.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan also blamed central government cuts for the surge in violent crime this year.

Mr Khan said: “I make no apologies for relentlessly pushing the government to understand that cuts have consequences and that our police service desperately need more funding right now.”