Neighbourhood crime is down 29 per cent since 2011/12, despite residents at a housing forum complaining about police visibility.

The reduction, which beats targets set by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime by 9pc, includes a 37pc decrease in robberies.

But Pat Harding, who lives in Park Drive, Dagenham, told the forum at Dagenham Civic Centre on Monday last week that elderly residents in the east of the borough feel neglected by the safer neighbourhood teams, which cost council tenants £26 a year.

“What are we paying for?” she said. “I’ve never seen any police on our estates.”

Heath Ward’s acting sergeant Nicholas Archer told the forum the unit’s success, which included reduced burglary by 36pc since 2011/12, was mainly due to covert operations and plain clothes patrols.