ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox twice a day Monday - Friday plus breaking news updates Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive lunchtime headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts, by email Update newsletter preferences

Hundreds of police officers are being deployed at London's busiest junctions during rush hour in response to an increase in road deaths.

The operation begins today after the number killed on London's roads this year surged to 29, including three cyclists, compared with 10 in the same period last year.

The victims include homeless former concert pianist Anne Naysmith, who was killed in a crash involving a lorry in Chiswick on Tuesday last week, and cyclist Federica Baldassa, 26, a fashion buyer who died in another lorry crash in Holborn on Friday, February 6.

More than 600 officers from the Metropolitan Police's Roads and Transport Policing Command (RTPC) will be deployed at key junctions and surrounding roads in rush hour during the joint Met and Transport for London (TfL) operation, which will run for six weeks.

Superintendent Robert Revill, from the RTPC, said: "Every road death or serious injury is a needless tragedy that is devastating for the victim's family and friends. We must reverse this trend.



"All road users have a responsibility for road safety and it is essential that everyone takes every step they can to keep themselves and others safe on the roads."

Drivers using mobile phone are a specific focus, along with speeding, failure to wear seat belts, cyclists jumping red lights, faulty vehicles and motorists without insurance.