Sadiq Khan has called on the government to tackle the root causes of violent crime amid spiralling problems with knife crime across London.

The Mayor of London claims millions cut from the budgets of youth services and schools in the capital meant authorities were finding it more difficult to “tackle the root causes” of knife crime.

His comments come after four men were stabbed to death in a string of unrelated stabbings across London on New Year’s Eve.

The Met’s Operation Winter Nights scheme, which ran between November until December last year, resulted in more than 900 arrests and 278 knife seizures.

Mr Khan said: “The Met will do everything in their power to tackle violent crime, which is rising across the UK, but this Government has forgotten that there are two parts to this equation.

“The police are being tough on crime, but the Government are being desperately weak on the causes of crime.

“Getting back to being ‘tough on the causes of crime’ will require a massive investment in the services that have been neglected for too long, tragically letting our young people down.

“There is an old proverb which says it takes a village to raise a child.

“That means the whole community – parents, families, teachers, schools, youth clubs or social workers – must play their part. Prevention is much more effective than enforcement.”

Waltham Forest had seen a number of high-profile knife attacks in recent months.

Armed police were deployed in some Walthamstow neighbourhoods in November after a spate of gang-related stabbings which left one teenager dead and four others injured in the space of a week.

In December, two teenagers were taking to hospital after receiving stab wounds in an incident outside Tesco Express in Lea Bridge Road, Leyton.