A senior councillor believes preventative measures – such as youth centre programmes – could be the key to tackling knife crime in Harrow.

Cllr Krishna Suresh, responsible for crime and community cohesion at Harrow Council, said it is important to give young people outlets to stop them “falling into the destructive cycle of crime”.

He added that organisations in the borough, including the council, the police, schools and voluntary groups, should band together to get to the “root” of the issue.

“The victims – and the perpetrators – are often our young people. They are our future generation, but they are not being put on the right path,” he said.

“They need places to go, which is why I am pushing for youth centres to be installed in town centres across Harrow.”

It comes following a recent spate of violent incidents in the borough – on December 2, a man in his 20s was stabbed in Northolt Road, South Harrow. And less than a week later on Sunday (December 8), a 26-year-old man was stabbed outside Harrow-on-the-Hill Station.

Cllr Suresh said he will continue to campaign for a “zero tolerance” approach to drug dealing in the borough, an issue he said is clearly linked to the increase in knife crime.

He pointed that, statistically, Harrow remains the second-safest borough in London.

However, he said there is “more to do” to keep each other safe and urged people to think about what is means to be a “good citizen of Harrow”.

He criticised recent austerity policies, which he said have led to increased deprivation and subsequently increased crime levels, and slammed government cuts to the police force.

“[The council] works closely with the police but there is only so much we can both do when we have such limited resources,” he said.