Lewisham Shopping Centre has been forbidding groups of school children from entering all week on police advice.

Police said the decision was made after a series of incidents of anti-social behaviour, culminating in the last straw on Friday (March 16) which resulted in the centre being closed for the entire evening.

Now police are restricting the number of school children allowed into the shopping centre at one time, specifically shortly before and after school hours.

Local police are also carrying out highly visible patrols of the area in an attempt to cut back on the number of anti-social behaviour incidents.

This means all week groups of children have not been allowed to enter the shopping centre unless they are accompanied by a parent or guardian.

A Met Police spokesman said: “Following a number of complaints from business owner and members of the community, a decision was taken by all those involved to implement a number of measures to counteract this behaviour.

“The initial response to these measures from the local community has been overwhelmingly positive and Lewisham Police will continue to work with all partners to ensure the borough maintains a vibrant and safe town centre economy.”

Paul Redden, Centre Manager at Lewisham Shopping Centre, said: “There was an incident in Lewisham Shopping Centre last week, which is currently under police investigation.

“On police advice, we are currently not allowing large groups of children into the shopping centre if they are not accompanied by a parent or guardian.”