The Mayor of London has been called on to re-evaluate how crimes including theft and assault are dealt with in London boroughs.

Two-years-ago Sadiq Khan decided to allow borough police teams in the capital to choose two crimes which were particularly high in their area and focus on reducing them.

These so called ‘neighbourhood crimes’ such as burglary, theft and assault which contribute to nearly half of all crime recorded by the Metropolitan Police – in January this year there were 80,000 burglaries across London.

But the London Assembly police and crime committee have raised concerns that this approach is not working and have written to Mr Khan about it.

Steve O’Connell, the chairman of the committee, said: “Setting local neighbourhood crime priorities clearly has benefits. It brings policing closer to Londoners’ lives and helps tailor operations to the crimes that matter most to them.

“Two years in, though, and the overall impact of this approach remains unclear.”

The letter asks Mr Khan to make sure local communities know how to work with the police to make local policing more effective and assess whether changes to the police have impacted on the success of local policing.

Figures released last year by City Hall revealed the number of police officers in London had fallen to 3.3 per 1,000 people, with the number of police dropping below 30,000 for the first time in a decade.

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.

Mr O’Connell added: “To reach its potential, this scheme must take into account the impact of wider changes in the Met and beyond.

“Londoners must be at the heart of crime fighting priorities in their neighbourhoods.

“There must be trust in the police and there must be confidence in their actions – that is how police and residents can work together to keep communities safe and secure.”