Knife crime in London remains at near record levels with more than 40 blade offences committed every day, official figures revealed today.

The Office for National Statistics said a total of 14,847 knife offences was recorded in the capital during the 12 months to the end of September last year.

The tally - which included 83 knife killings and 161 rapes or sexual assaults carried out with a blade - is 140 fewer than the all-time high of 14,987 registered in the previous rolling annual statistics released three months ago.

But it is still one of the largest 12 month totals ever in the capital. It also amounts to an increase of more than 50 per cent since 2015.

Today’s statistics highlight the challenge faced by the Met as it strives to reduce knife crime through a concerted campaign which has involved the increased use of stop and search, weapons sweeps and other tactics designed to deter and catch those carrying blades.

They came as national figures painted a similarly bleak picture with knife offending across England and Wales rising to its highest total since 2011 with an 8 per cent increase in such crimes recorded during the year to the end of September.

The nationwide statistics - which are significantly influenced by trends in London - also show a 15 per cent rise in admissions to hospital with knife injuries, a 14 per cent increase in homicides, and a 17 per cent leap in the number of robberies.

The figures for the capital will, however, add to concerns about the extent of street violence, often fuelled by the drug trade and gang conflict, and the deaths and injuries that are occurring as a result.

They show that on overall knife offending, today’s 12 month total of 14,847 knife crimes is 8 per cent up on the equivalent total a year earlier and far higher than many of the annual total recorded by the Office for National Statistics over the past decade.

Figure released by the statisticians show, for example, that in the year to the end of March 2015 a comparatively low total of 9,684 offences was recorded. The tally for the following 12 months was also below 10,000, while the only previous occasion before this year that the year total topped 14,000 was in 2012.

Meanwhile, on knife killings, today’s figures show that the latest total of 83 is virtually identical to the 82 a year earlier, but significantly down on the 110 recorded in the year to the end of March 2018.

It is, however, much higher than the knife homicide totals for much of the previous decade, with most years showing totals between 50 and 60 such killings.

In response, Mayor Sadiq Khan said that the causes of violent crime were “extremely complex and deep-seated” and fuelled by problems such as “poverty, inequality, social alienation and a lack of opportunities for young people” which had been worsened by government funding cuts.

Met Commissioner Cressida Dick said today’s figures showed the challenges that London was facing and that recent investment from City Hall would allow police to devote more officers to tackling violent crime.