LEWISHAM has been awarded more than £370,000 by the Government to crack down on crime.

The Building Safer Communities Fund, which brings together several crime-fighting funds, has been launched by the Home Office to give agencies greater flexibility to target money at specific problems in their area.

The £374,235 fund for Lewisham will be distributed among a range of agencies including Lewisham Victim Support, the Community Drugs Education Project, Safe Shopping Partnership, Lewisham police and Lewisham Council.

Some of the cash will be used to fund a child support worker based at Lewisham Victim Support, crime and drugs preventative work with youngsters in deprived areas and community education projects.

Some of the money will also go towards a shop radio security scheme and be used to target crime hot spots, tackle deception burglary and fund a domestic violence co-ordinator.

Councillor Susan Wise, cabinet member for housing and community safety, said: “Building safer communities creates fantastic opportunities for us to develop new and innovative services.”