Families frightened by moped gangs terrorising streets across the borough was the subject of a parliamentary debate last week.

Romford MP Andrew Rosindell raised his concerns about moped muggings that have occurred across Havering and London and called for more action.

He demanded answers from Nick Hurd, minister for policing and the fire service, as to how the government would tackle the problem.

“Motor bike crime and moped crime in London is on the increase,” he said.

“We need community officers who can deal with this problem directly, as it is an increasing issue.

“What are the government doing about it? Can we please make our communities safer in this respect?

Mr Hurd responded: “As a fellow London MP I totally agree with the gent.

“In fact I heard it directly the other day from a sergeant with whom I was walking the beat in London Bridge.

“As my honourable friend knows, it is a requirement of local police chiefs to set the operational priorities.

“It is our responsibility to make sure they have the resources they need to meet all the risks they see.

But Rochdale MP Tony Lloyd added: “Community policing is the bedrock on which all policing operates, but following the bomb in Greater Manchester the whole of the police service has been working 12-hour days and there is no capacity to draw people in for overtime.

“Does the minister not understand that policing is stretched beyond any capacity to deliver?”

Mr Hurd added: “I hope the honourable gentleman knows that we are extremely sensitive to that point.

“As I said in my remarks, we are very aware that the pressure put on the police as a result of recent terrible events, not least the one in Manchester, has required a surge of police effort and fantastic collaboration between forces, but we now have to sit down rationally with police and crime commissioners and police chiefs, to really understand and test assertions about pressure on police forces and to make sure that they have the resources they need to keep us safe.”