Over half of people in the United Kingdom believe the police have lost control of the streets, a shock poll commissioned by a national newspaper has revealed.

The survey shows that 57 percent of respondents think the control of whole areas has been surrendered by officers to criminals who have lost the fear of being brought to justice.

And as a crime wave sweeps the nation, most dramatically in London, almost a quarter of people asked in the Daily Mail poll do not feel safe to walk around their neighbourhood at night, the poll revealed.

It also showed that 51 percent of people questioned who had been a victim of crime in the past two years claim officers did not bother visiting their home and 30 percent were told to find evidence themselves.

Furthermore, 57 percent of respondents felt officers now do not treat crimes such as burglary with the seriousness they deserve and more than three quarters want to see more officers on the streets.

And a majority of people – 54 percent – said political correctness was contributing to the sharply rising murder rate in large towns and cities.

Last month, Breitbart London reported new data showing that police solved just one in ten London knife robberies last year, with the proportion of those solved falling as the number of attacks surged.

At the time, Tory London Assembly Member Tony Arbour questioned why police were following the “political line” pushed by the Mayor of blaming cuts instead of addressing the issue.

Leftist London Mayor Sadiq Khan has finally begun to speak up on the city’s crime problem but has chosen to beg the public to help police the city.

Earlier in the year, in January, it was revealed that London police were no longer investigating crimes if officers are required to watch CCTV for more than 20 minutes or there is no footage available.

The force also dropped investigations into thousands of lower-level offences and ignores certain crimes such as vandalism, vehicle crime, and fuel theft if damages do not exceed £50.

However, according to the police, other crimes, including so-called “hate crime” and serious crimes such as homicides and sexual assaults, must always be investigated.

London alone boasts over 900 police officers “dedicated to investigating hate crime” while overall police numbers fell by just one percent over a year, figures from January showed.