THE murder rate has doubled in Waltham Forest over the last 12 months, Met Police figures have shown.

There were 10 murders in the 12 months to March this year, compared to five in the same period the year before.

The figures also show a 46 per cent increase in the number of robberies of businesses, and there were 2,173 burgled homes - a rise of 24.7 per cent.

Racist crime increased by 18.5 per cent and there were a reported 1,830 domestic violence incidents, a rise of 9.5 per cent.

But local police will be pleased that reported gun crime fell by 12.6 per cent, and there were also decreases in the number of reported homophobic incidents (down 14 per cent) and there was a 10 per cent drop in the number of rape incidents.

The crime rate as a whole for the borough increased slightly, by 1.7 per cent.

Across London as a whole there was a two per cent drop in recorded crime, although the number of reported rapes increased by 15 per cent.