Merton Council has passed a motion calling on the borough's top policeman to deploy more officers to areas where there is the most serious crime.

The borough's 123 police officers are currently distributed equally between Wimbledon, Morden and Mitcham.

However, crime figures for the past 12 months show that 41 per cent of all crime took place in Mitcham, 31 per cent in Wimbledon and 28 per cent in Morden.

Most reported serious crimes in the past year have taken place in Mitcham, or in Wimbledon town centre at night.

Councillor Jeff Hanna, who represents Pollards Hill, an area which has seen a recent spate of stabbings, said: "Those areas with higher levels of crime deserve more police patrols, more contact with residents to gather community intelligence, and more prevention and investigation of criminal activity. That is only fair for the vast majority of law abiding residents living in those areas."

Merton's borough commander, Chief Superintendent Stuart Macleod, is responsible for deciding how officers are deployed in the borough.

He said: "The operational deployment of all police resources is a police decision. This is a complex matter and is based on a number of factors that include crime levels.

"We constantly monitor crime trends and other demands on police resources, as well as listening to concerns raised by members of the public and other stakeholders, and we will continue to task our available resources according to the overall policing demand and the intelligence and information that is available to us."

Conservative councillors objected to the motion, which was passed by a narrow majority at the full council meeting last Wednesday.

Councillor David Simpson, Merton Conservatives' community safety spokesman, said: "The last thing residents want is politicians meddling in operational decisions. The police know best how to make our streets safer.

"Over 100 officers are already deployed flexibly to areas with more crime. Labour’s proposals would see existing police officers in Morden and Raynes Park diverted permanently to Mitcham.

"Residents should be asking their Labour councillors in Cannon Hill and Lower Morden why they support measures that will see fewer officers available to protect them."