Crime has gone up in Tower Hamlets in the last year, according to figures from the Metropolitan Police.

The Met’s figures for reported crimes in the borough, which were released this week, show an increase of 3.5% - from 27,148 in 2009 to 28,101 in 2010.

There were six reported murders in Tower Hamlets in that period, two down on the previous year.

In London as a whole, there were 125 murders, seven fewer than in 2009.

Reported instances of violence against the person and rapes both increased in Tower Hamlets.

The former went up from 6,175 to 6,422, the latter from 77 to 117.

The total number of reported robberies also went up from 919 to 1,024.

Tower Hamlets police officers saw a reduction in gun crime in the borough.

They responded to 75 allegations of gun crime in 2009 but that dropped to 66 last year, against a Met total of 3,031.

Gun crime fell by 10.4 per cent across the capital according to the figures.

The numbers for domestic violence, racist or religious hate crimes and homophobic crimes all went down as well.

Domestic crime reports fell by 65 to 1,706 from 1,771 in 2009; racist and religious hate crimes dropped from 397 to 345 and homophobic crimes decreased from 73 to 67.

There was a small increase in the number of motor vehicle crimes which officers responded to in the borough – up from 2,636 to 2,678.

The borough’s crime rate is considered in the average band for London boroughs by the Met Police - standing at 11.97 in October 2010 – which means the rate of crime per 1000 head of the population.

Discussing the London-wide figures, Mayor Boris Johnson said: “London now boasts the lowest murder rate since 1978 and our targeted policing operations have led to a huge reduction in gun crime and burglary.

“However, the challenge of tackling violent youth crime remains.”