London is home to the UK's ten most violent places to live

-  Lewisham is the most violent place to live in the country- Plagued by youth knife crime, murder and public disorder- Lambeth, Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets also among the lease peaceful- Study also shows sharp drop in crime over last ten years
On top of the world: The sun rises over London as seen from The Shard, which opens to the public on February 1.
Lewis Whyld/PA
24 April 2013
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London has the 10 most violent local authorities in Britain despite sharp falls in crime over the past decade, a new international study claimed today.

The UK Peace Index, which is calculated using rates of homicide, weapons crime and public disorder and other factors, says Lewisham is the most violent place to live in the country.

It comes bottom of the new peace league table with the study listing knife crime among the 13-24 age group, relatively high homicide rates and “staggering” public disorder levels as among the factors responsible.

Lambeth, Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets fill the remaining places in the list of the five least peaceful local authorities, while even the best ranked London borough, Richmond-upon-Thames, stands only at 228 in the national league table.

The study, compiled by the Institute for Economics and Peace using 10 years of Home Office data, says that London’s poor performance comes despite significant declines in crime in both the capital and the country as a whole over the past decade.

It says this fall means that Britain is now 11 per cent less violent than in 2002, but that the lack of peace still costs the country £124 billion a year — equivalent to an average of £4,700 per household. In a key finding that will intensify the debate about social divisions in the capital, the study concludes that “extreme poverty” is the factor most closely linked with violence.

Unveiling the study, Steve Killelea, the founder of the Institute for Economics and Peace, said: “The findings of the UK Peace Index show that poverty and economic opportunity are significantly associated with peace.

“This suggests greater emphasis needs to be placed on programmes that tackle poverty and related issues, such as access to education and economic opportunity.”

As well as homicide numbers, the other factors used to calculate the peace index are the rates of violent crime, weapons offences and public disorder, plus the number of police officers per 100,000 residents in each area.

The study, which ranks 343 local authorities nationwide, also claims that there is no link between police officer numbers and levels of violence.

Despite the poor performance of many of its boroughs, London escapes bottom place in a regional peace league table, finishing one place above Strathclyde, which is the worst ranked region.

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