Mitcham and Morden’s MP has again hit out at Merton police claiming rising crime in the east of the borough is too low a priority.

In an open letter, Siobhain McDonagh said officers told her they were too busy policing the Wimbledon Tennis Championships to respond to her concerns regarding a triple stabbing and spate of other serious incidents in Mitcham last month.

She added that had police adequately identified a gang problem in the area, and some of the attacks, which included the stabbings, two shootings and a serious assault on a drinker, could have been prevented.

In response, Merton’s borough commander described the criticism as disappointing and announced plans to divert safer neighbourhood resources to five key wards in Mitcham and Colliers Wood as part of the new Operation Lockdown.

Responding to an open letter published by Chief Superintendent Dick Wolfenden last week, Ms McDonagh wrote: “In my dealings with your officers they told me they were too busy to help me, due to the Wimbledon Championships.

“I hope it will be clear to you now that this is an inappropriate message to give a community representative.”

She said at a public reassurance meeting officers chose to argue about the semantics of whether the group committing these acts was a gang or not, rather than listen to the community’s concerns.

She said: “The truth is, if the police had identified they [gangs] were a problem and had dealt with them appropriately, the stabbings would not have taken place.”

In a second public letter, Chief Supt Wolfenden wrote: “Hindsight is a wonderful gift.

“When incidents like this happen, people are quick to go to the press and it is easy to blame the police.

“I readily acknowledge we are the lead agency in relation to enforcement activity, however, the causational factors that lead to criminality are many and varied.”