Yet another London carjacking

The incident happened as a couple were filling their car at a BP garage in south London. The man had gone to pay and left his girlfriend sleeping in the back of the vehicle when two men, one armed with a silver handgun, leapt into the front seats and drove off.

The woman was held at gunpoint until the car stopped about 100 yards down the road and she was ordered out.

Police said the incident happened at 6.12am when two black men jumped out of a Vauxhall Cavalier at the garage in Camberwell Road. They climbed into the couple's red

Rover and one held a pistol to the head of the woman in the back of the car as they drove off.

The carjacking took place on Saturday, a day after a woman company director was left unconscious at the roadside in south London as thieves stole her £50,000 Mercedes.

Home Secretary David Blunkett today demanded "major police strikes" against carjackers and mobile phone robbers who he said were terrifying the nation.

Mr Blunkett said the crimes - including the murder of Battersea estate agent Tim Robinson, stabbed to death outside his home last week - were "affecting the psyche of the nation". Launching his proposals to clear Britain's jails of non-violent offenders, he made clear that he expected to see tougher punishments for dangerous criminals. He said: "Those who commit murder, violent offences and dangerous hijackings will get even tougher and longer jail sentences in more difficult conditions - then we will be able to stamp on the outbreak of activity, particularly in south London, we have seen in recent weeks."

His comments came as Scotland Yard told how a woman company director was knocked unconscious by carjackers who drove off in her Mercedes in New Charlton. Mr Blunkett said: "We seem to have copycat crime at the moment. "

Today a senior Scotland Yard officer said efforts to tackle the carjackings was being given priority.

Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick, speaking at the launch of the Yard's Safer Streets campaign which will see 250 traffic officers diverted into fighting street crime, said: "We have seen about 90 incidents of this kind in recent months and we have a team of 50 detectives who are devoting a lot of energy to track down these gangs." Police believe there are about six carjacking gangs in the capital.

The 24-year-old woman victim of the latest south London carjacking was said to be shaken by her ordeal but otherwise unhurt.

It is thought that the thieves were not aware at first that she was lying in the back seat of the car.

Police recovered the Rover six hours later in Lambeth and it is now being examined by forensic experts. They are also looking at CCTV footage from the garage forecourt.

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