A Muswell Hill mum has spoken out after her son was mugged yards from his front door.

Wajiha Ali, whose 16-year-old son was attacked close to St James' Church in the Broadway, told the Ham&High: "My son was coming back from the gym. He goes every day. Outside the church a few boys asked him what time it was. Soon they started hitting him and punching him.

"He just tried to run away and luckily he did."

"I want to get involved and do more but I don't know what can I do or what we as a community can do."

Wajiha said while she understood the police were doing what they could, she was struggling with how incidents like this had made her and her family - she has another son who is just 13 - feel less safe yards from their own home.

"It used to be very safe, I've never had any problems in the past. Just in the last few years things have changed."

Another mum who asked to remain anonymous said a group of boys had targeted her son while he was on the way back from the gym.

She said: "Somebody approached him on a bike. They tried to talk to him and luckily he twigged what was going to happen and he screamed as loud as he could, this led to the boy backing off."

The mum added: "With this happening so much you start to look at everyone suspiciously, you don't know what's happening here."

Both incidents came on December 8, just weeks after parents just up the road in East Finchley started to patrol the streets themselves on a Friday evening after a number of young people were attacked. while in June a group of Muswell Hill parents formed the Muswell Hill Against Knife Crime group to search for community solutions a perceived rise in youth violence in the area.

Last week, Haringey Police explained "extra officers have been allocated to our borough to deal with those intent on committing robbery, we are out daily in plain clothes and uniform to detect and deter crime".

Det Insp Colby says "The fight against robbery is working and will continue unabated and that we welcome your assistance and patience in that battle."