No 10 orders borough to get tough

Council chiefs from Lambeth, London's capital of street crime, have been hauled in to be given Government orders to work more effectively with local police.

Amid a wave of muggings and burglaries by young people, Lambeth council leader Tom Franklin was called to Westminster for an extraordinary dressing down by Home Office minister John Denham.

The Evening Standard has learned that some of the impetus for the meeting came from Downing Street, where officials were concerned at claims that the Labour-led borough is doing too little to stop youths turning to crime.

Brixton police borough commander Brian Paddick, said: "I was required to attend a meeting with John Denham, together with the leader of the council. The Home Office minister has told the leader of the council to come up with an action plan to show how the local authority is going to improve its contribution to defeating crime and disorder in Lambeth."

Local MP Kate Hoey backed the minister's stance. "I am glad Mr Denham has really taken the leader of the council to task and hopefully we can get on with creating the kind of partnerships that work so well in other boroughs," she said.

Mr Franklin was unavailable for comment but Labour councillor Michael English said the authority is being singled out unfairly.

"Every authority in the country would like to do more in terms of youth provision," he said. "It is not specific to Lambeth."

The Government's intervention emerged as Mr Paddick faced residents worried about rising crime in south London. Families who live just a mile and a half from where Tim Robinson was murdered in a carjacking attack two weeks ago called for urgent action to thwart muggers and drug dealers.

Two tenants' association officials were not at the meeting because they were mugged during the past week. One suffered facial bruising in an attack yesterday, the other was robbed at knifepoint at the weekend.

Politely but firmly they called for more visible policing. Ros Munday, 35, vice chairman of the West Stockwell Forum, said: "I am scared to go out of my front door. There may be extra police but you still have crack dealers on the streets of Brixton."

She said problems are acute on the Willard Estate. "In the last year we have had one siege and two murders in the snooker hall. We have got anti- social behaviour 24 hours a day and yet nothing is done about it."

Brixton resident Masher Fontaine, 42, called for action against drug dealing. "I have been in Brixton for 18 years and I can't believe the number of people on the street selling crack or heroin. The police are just walking past. They should be arrested and put in prison. I am sick and tired of seeing things on the streets."

Jonathon Myerson, a local magistrate, said his son has been mugged three times. The criminal justice system fails because defence lawyers resort to sharp practice and the prosecuting authorities can be inefficient, he said. But he said the public must play its part.

"On the third time he was mugged, my son shouted for help and people walked by," he said.

Mr Paddick said an initiative which has seen traffic police reassigned to fight street crime is beginning to work. On bad days there have been as many as 46 robberies but the target is to keep the number below 25.

He defended his controversial decision to downgrade the response to minor drug offences but told residents they must help decide the priorities.

"I do not have enough officers to enforce all of the laws all of the time," he said.