Fraud and ticket forgery were the only offences to increase on Newham’s buses last year, according to official police figures.

Reported crime on the borough’s transport network fell by 13 per cent overall in 2011/12 when compared to the previous year.

Recorded robbery, sexual offences, and theft all saw drops on 2010/11. There were also 75 fewer incidents of violence against the person.

Steve Burton, from Transport for London (TfL), said: “We are not complacent and although these figures show a continued reduction in the number of crimes there is still work to be done.

“We are committed to working with our policing partners to ensure the bus network remains a safe and low crime environment.”

Across the capital, bus crime has also continued to fall, TfL said. There were 9.3 crimes per million passenger journeys on buses in 2011/12, 2,250 fewer than the previous year.

Ch Supt Sultan Taylor, from Met Police Safer Transport Command added: “We are running an unremitting programme of operations that focus on robbery and other bus related crime

“We will ensure that for those convicted all legislation will be brought to bear to prevent individuals from re-entering the criminal justice system.”