Senior police officers were heckled as they claimed there was no problem with gangs on Phipps Bridge estate.

As Merton police’s head of community and partnerships, Chief Inspector Mark Lawrence, said the incidents were not gang-related, members of the 100-strong audience began shouting.

One said: “Of course it is. In the space of nine months I have seen shootings, stabbings. A week before the most recent incident I saw the same people beat a man unconscious. It is the same group, hanging around the same place intimidating people.

“One of the boys actually told me he was the face of the estate. It is incredibly intimidating and you are doing nothing about it.”

Another said: “My house actually got machine gunned last September. You can still see the bullet holes, but I have heard nothing from police. I do not even know if anyone has been arrested or what is going on.”

Chief Insp Lawrence said: “Police presence is something you only notice if you are looking out the window when we are going past.

“But we are not in a position to flood the estate with officers. We have deployed every officer we can.”

Another resident said: “From 11pm to 5am they are out there. You can sometimes even see them out during the day dealing drugs.”

Chief Insp Lawrence replied: “There are issues here but it feels like a nice place, although I know when it gets dark it feels different.”