Met braced for holiday violence

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A new 75-strong team, dedicated to stamping out stabbings, will launch an unprecedented crackdown on people carrying knives and target trigger events in London's summer calendar.

Police sources said the task force would "ratchet up the pressure" against those carrying knives, focusing on key events which attract gangs, including the Notting Hill Carnival and popular festivals.

It comes as sources say Maxine de Brunner, Commander of the new Blunt 2 taskforce, wants "to stop another young person being murdered in London".

The new crack team will use intelligence-based leads to target key problem areas, using undercover officers and high visibility patrols.

The Met sees the next two months as a key battleground in the war against knife crime.

The source said: "We are concentrating on key events and dates in the summer calendar. Borough Commanders will be working their action plans for their areas."

The source added that stop and searches will become more stringent as intelligence reveals gang members are hiding knives in their shoes to evade capture.

Knife sweeps of estates and areas will also continue to pick up hidden weapons.

Launched on Friday "with immediate effect" by Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson, the taskforce has already been deployed this weekend.

The Met refused to say where this was and said it was too early to release figures on arrests or weapons recovered.

School holidays have traditionally seen an upsurge of violence. From June to August last year nine teenagers were stabbed or shot dead.

Three teenagers have been stabbed to death since the start of June this year.