Enfield needs more police on the beat to halt the borough's descent into violence, Enfield Council chiefs said this week.

Michael Rye, leader of the council, spoke out in response to the horrific attacks two weeks ago which left one man dead and a mother-of-four critically ill in hospital. Another unprovoked incident on Thursday saw a 20-year-old man stabbed in the chest and slashed across the face in Tudor Road, Edmonton.

Cllr Rye has echoed last week's call by Edmonton MP Andy Love to up policing levels in the borough.

He said: "Gun and knife crime is not only a problem in the inner city. It happens in so-called leafy suburbs like Enfield, so why should we have fewer officers than, for example, Hackney or Haringey?

"It is increasingly obvious that more officers will help deter crime and reassure the public that Enfield is a safe place."

He added: "The police are doing a marvellous job in tackling this London-wide problem, but they need more help in Enfield. We need to reassure the public that the police are dealing with the increase in knife and gun crime."

Enfield has more than 550 police, community support officers and special constables, which Supt Tony Dawson this week said was above targets set for the borough.

Supt Dawson added: "Cllr Rye is right in general terms, but there's no evidence that more officers would have prevented either of these cases.

"These two incidents are not connected and there was no shortage of resources to deal with them at the time."