STREETS in the West End are the most dangerous in the capital, while one neighbourhood in Bromley, south-east London, did not have a single robbery in a year.
New ward-by-ward police data show more than 20,000 crimes were committed in the West End in the 12 months to April.
The central London shopping and theatre district was also the scene of 247 street robberies - the fourth most in 625 wards.
It was only topped by three of the capital's poorest areas. Stratford and New Town in Newham, east London, had 300 muggings, followed by East Walworth (266) and Camberwell Green (263), both in Southwark in the south of the city.
After the West End, overall crime was highest in other central London areas popular with visitors: St James's (15,283 offences in total); Holborn and Covent Garden (6,289); Bloomsbury (4,816) and Camden Town with Primrose Hill (4,612).
Safe suburbs
The safest areas in the capital tended to be leafy, quiet suburbs towards the edge of the capital. In Bromley, the Darwin ward saw no street robberies at all, followed by nearby Shortlands with just three muggings. The total number of offences in both neighbourhoods averaged less than one a day.
Kingston upon Thames also had some of the safest neighbourhoods in London, with four wards among the lowest ten for both muggings and overall crime. Old Malden in the south-west London borough tallied the least offences in the whole of London: only 326 in a year.
Other safe suburbs were Sutton South and Lower Morden, both in south London.
Croydon's Fairfield, however, were among the ten most dangerous with 4,135 crimes and 231 muggings.
Unsurprisingly, areas notorious for their run-down council estates also made the top ten for street robberies. Tottenham Green in north London, where a police officer was killed in riots on the Broadwater Farm estate in 1985, came ninth with 222 muggings.
Stonebridge in Brent, north-west London, was in tenth place with 209 robberies. It was the scene of a triple family murder over a drug row on the Stonebridge estate last year, as well as the double murder of seven-year-old Toni-Ann Byfield and her drug dealer dad in 2003.
Police said they were carrying out "a raft of initiatives and targeted operations" to cut down on street crime. In the 12 months to April, muggings rose by 16%, but the increase rate has since declined by 2%, a spokesman said.
STREET ROBBERY
Highest wards
Newham / Stratford and New Town 300
Southwark / East Walworth 266
Southwark / Camberwell Green 263
Westminster / West End 247
Lambeth / Coldharbour 235
Lewisham / Lewisham Central 233
Croydon / Fairfield 231
Westminster / St James's 230
Haringey / Tottenham Green 222
Brent / Stonebridge 209
Lowest wards
Kingston upon Thames / Coombe Hill 6
Merton / Lower Morden 6
Sutton / Sutton South 6
Kingston upon Thames / Coombe Vale 5
Richmond upon Thames / Teddington 5
Kingston upon Thames / Berrylands 4
Kingston upon Thames / Chessington North and Hook 4
Bromley / Shortlands 3
Havering / Emerson Park 3
Bromley / Darwin 0
TOTAL CRIME
Highest wards
Westminster / West End 20379
Westminster / St James's 15283
Camden / Holborn and Covent Garden 6289
Camden / Bloomsbury 4816
Camden / Camden Town with Primrose Hill 4612
Kingston upon Thames / Grove 4575
Islington / St Mary's 4316
Newham / Stratford and New Town 4257
Hillingdon / Heathrow Villages 4164
Croydon / Fairfield 4135
Lowest wards
Kingston upon Thames / St James 458
Harrow / Headstone North 445
Sutton / Belmont 433
Kingston upon Thames / Alexandra 414
Kingston upon Thames / Coombe Vale 411
Sutton / Sutton South 405
Merton / Lower Morden 404
Bromley / Darwin 339
Bromley / Shortlands 337
Kingston upon Thames / Old Malden 326
