Policing in Kingston was not harmed by officers being sent up to Westminster for the Tamil protests, borough police chiefs insisted this week.

The Metropolitan Police Authority claimed operations were cancelled and violent crime and burglary rates shot up across the capital since the protests began on April 6, in a report published last week.

It stated that 616 officers per day were needed to police the demonstrations, with many being taken away from the boroughs.

But Alison Dollery, Chief Inspector of Operations, said bobbies were not taken off the beat in Kingston and instead offered overtime to police the protests.

The cost of paying the officers will come from central funds and not hit local budgets, she added.

She said officer numbers varied from just four or five on quieter days to more than a dozen when the demonstrations got more heated.

Crime figures for Kingston dropped slightly in April compared with the previous month, although the number of violent crimes rose from 178 to 214 and antisocial behaviour reports increased from 566 to 658.

Chief Insp Dollery said they were able to cope because the protests did not fall in the peak holiday season and “it finished at about the time that they were starting to get tired”.

She said that no police operations were scheduled in Kingston at the time of the protests, although the eviction of squatters on Raven’s Ait had to be moved back slightly to May 1.

She said: “I’d like to say it was down to fantastic planning, and there was some coordination involved, but the reality was that it didn’t come at a time when it was difficult for us to respond.”

The protest, which involved thousands of people demonstrating over the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka, ended last week after 73 days.

The total policing cost exceeded £10m.

Get crime statistics for your area at surreycomet.co.uk/li