A MUM has accused police of ignoring the increasingly violent activities of a gang of black youths in the borough.

And she has warned that parents in Thamesmead, where the gang known as T Block operates, may be forced to take the law into their own hands to protect their children.

The mother, who is too frightened to be named for fear of reprisals, says she and other parents have reported attacks on their children to police.

She said: "The feedback we get is the police do not want to know."

She said her son, aged 17, has been robbed twice by gang members. She claimed: "Once it was at knifepoint and once at gunpoint. He refused to give them anything and ran."

His 18-year-old friend was beaten by a 20-strong gang who took his mobile phone and cash.

She also cited other incidents where a boy aged 15 was beaten and two 13-year-old girls dragged to the floor after one was hit in the face and another had her coat sleeve ripped open by a knife leaving scratches on her arm. All three were robbed.

Local shopkeepers have also been threatened with knives.

She added: "For us parents it is a nightmare. Physically we can do nothing to protect our children. My son desperately wants a knife to protect himself. We have told him no' and to ring us if anything happens, but nine times out of 10 we get there too late. I feel sick every time he and his younger sister go out."

The woman says she has lived in Thamesmead all her life but claims: "We never had anything to this extent before. The more I speak to people, the more I find out what is happening. I was told the gang burst into one house in Thamesmead armed with chains and beat the son in front of his family.

"We don't feel safe now, even indoors. I am trying to get some residents' meetings going. We don't want to take the law into our own hands, but we have got to protect our kids. We are not prepared to have this gang run riot."

And she warned: "It will take someone to be killed before the police will take notice."

Bexley police declined to comment.