Crime on the London Underground has increased according to the British Transport Police.

Between April 2002 and March 2003, the number of incidents rose by more than a quarter, with a 55 per cent rise in pickpocketing.

Public disorder offences at tube stations rose by 71 per cent.

Police have argued the increases are in part due to a change in the way crime is recorded and reflected rises across England and Wales.

However, a surveillance project entitled Operation Hawkeye has resulted in a 44 per cent reduction in vehicle crime, with the theft of railway property down by nearly a third.

"Although we have reduced vehicle crime, robberies and theft of railway property, we are not complacent," said chief superintendent Steve Hotson, BTP area commander.

Tim O'Toole, the newly-appointed managing director of London Underground, announced an increase in BTP manpower of 20 per cent.

"I have made safety and security central to my plans for the Tube," he said.

"I have been on patrol with the BTP and have brought them into the heart of the Tube's decision-making processes.

"More resources will be put into police manpower with the mayor [Ken Livingstone] providing funding for up to 100 additional officers."

"London Underground is still a safe environment, particularly when you realise that over three million passengers use the Tube every day, more than use all the railways in the rest of the UK," he added.