EXTRA police patrols in the borough have paid dividends in reducing crime.

Officers from the Territorial Support Group have been carrying out patrols in Walthamstow High Street, Leytonstone High Road, and the Bakers Arms and Coronation Gardens areas of Leyton.

According to police, the extra patrols resulted in a 29 per cent reduction in robberies last week compared with the same period in 2009 with 24 incidents compared to 34.

This is the second week of the extra patrols and in the first police reported a 32 per cent decrease in robberies.

The extra patrols come at a time when Leytonstone has suffered three stabbings in a week prompting some residents to claim gangs have “taken over the area”.

There has also been an outburst of gang-related violence in Walthamstow, which suffered two shootings in the Higham Hill area in June this year.

As well as the extra patrols, the local police force has enforced Alcohol Restriction Zones in Walthamstow High Street, and Leytonstone High Road.

A Community Safety Day was also held last week with the input of Waltham Forest Council and crime prevention advice was given out to more than 500 people.

Detective Superintendent Adrian Hutchinson said: “We are really starting to see positive results as a result of this joint initiative. We are working with Waltham Forest Council and our partners towards making Waltham Forest safer”.