Reid will encourage teenagers to inform on friends who carry knives

Inner-city youngsters will be urged to inform on friends who carry knives after the recent spate of fatal stabbings.

As Tony Blair led condemnation of the murders of the London teenagers Kodjo Yenga and Adam Regis in the past week, the Government promised fresh action to combat knife crime. John Reid, Home Secretary, signalled an effort would be made to reach communities traditionally suspicious of the police.

The drive, to be led by the Crimestoppers charity, will have the twin aims of warning youngsters that carrying knives is not "cool", and to persuade them to pass on information about violent friends.

Mr Reid said: "We will improve facilities to allow the public to play their part to an even greater extent in informing the authorities, in providing information on knife and gun crime."

The Home Secretary also announced that, for the first time, police will be required to record separately all crimes involving knives.

"This will provide a more detailed understanding of the prevalence of the problem than is currently available," he told MPs.

Mr Blair described the attacks as horrific and said new legislation would enable courts to hand out tougher sentences for armed crime. But he added: "I do think at a deeper level ... we need specific measures that are targeted on the hardest-to-reach families, and that's something we will be returning to in the weeks ahead."

David Davis, the shadow Home Secretary, said: "These measures are insufficient; the growing problem of knife crime is plain for all to see. John Reid should be ensuring we have a much greater police presence on the streets to detect and deter violent crime."

Alf Hitchcock, a spokes-man for the Association of Chief Police Officers, said police ran operations against knife crime, but said it was a problem for society as a whole.

"Long-term reduction of these types of offences needs to be closely linked to wider social issues, such as parenting [and] the moral compass of some young people," he added

In the past week, Kodjo Yenga, 16, was stabbed in Hammersmith, west London, on Wednesday and Adam Regis, 15, was murdered in Plaistow, east London, on Saturday night.