Mayor Boris Johnson today met with bereaved families of youth violence to discuss ideas and solutions on ending the mayhem on London's streets.

While predecessor Ken Livingstone was accused of taking a 'hands off' approach to the crisis, Johnson met with those affected and announced he would launch a strategy dealing with youth disorder shortly.

Families of Robert Knox and A&E personnel

The Mayor attended an early morning seminar with community members, academics and organisations working "on the frontline."

He called the challenge "a mammoth task."

Later he chaired a forum with guests that included representatives from the families of murdered teenagers Robert Knox and Nassirudeen Osawe and the partner of knife crime victim Elliot Guy also a representative from A&E at Kings College Hospital.

Mayor Boris Johnson said he wanted to reassure Londoners that he was determined stop youth violence in this city. 26 young people have died violently this year. more than this time last year.

Operation Blunt 2

This latest move by the Mayor comes on the back of Operation Blunt 2 that has carried out 77,000 searches with over 3,300 arrests and almost 2,200 knives recovered.

Kit Malthouse, Deputy Mayor for Policing said:

"We need to look at the symptoms but also the deep-rooted underlying causes."