POLICE swooped on homes across Bexley and arrested 15 youths in connection with a series of violent attacks.

In co-ordinated early morning raids, 80 officers including borough police, dog handlers, special constables and Met Police Territorial Support Group personnel, visited 14 addresses in Bexley and one in Northfleet looking for 18 youths.

Police also seized computers and clothing from the addresses and among the weapons retrieved were a machete, a cosh studded with nails, a baseball bat, a pepper spray and a stun gun.

The youths are believed to be members of the RA (Racist Attack), a gang which has been operating in the north of Bexley for several years.

But in recent weeks, its activities have become increasingly violent and included white as well as ethnic minority victims.

Police say they had to act because they feared they "could end up with a dead black teenager".

It is also thought the gang has encouraged a copycat group, the Young RA, formed by school-age children who are being manipulated by people in their mid-20s.

Toby Hufford, head of the 2,000-pupil Erith School, admitted some of his pupils are gang members. He said: "We are not cut off from the community. But some of our pupils have also been victims.

"One was seriously injured when the gang attacked black and Asian youths in Avenue Road."

Mr Hufford claims many parents and organisations are in denial about the situation.

He added: "They say there are no gangs, just a group of individuals."

But he says gangs do exist and are drawn in from other areas and other schools.

Mr Hufford said: "We are not talking a Mods and Rockers punch-up on the seafront. This is beating people to a pulp."

The school is working closely with the police and Mr Hufford's main concern is young onlookers being gradually drawn into the gang's activities.

"The situation is awful," he admitted. "It is a running sore in this part of the borough.

"It is not a new thing and it raises its head in all urban environments."

He says there have been no prosecutions because witnesses are terrified into silence.

The five incidents under investigation took place between September 13 and September 18 in Northumberland Heath.

They include two black youths punched and kicked; a black teenager beaten with lumps of wood; an Asian man, 32, assaulted and a 20-year-old beaten over the head with a wrench.

Since the raids, police have been in the area offering reassurance and leafleting homes.

Following their arrest most of the youths were released on police bail.

Kurt Harvey, aged 19, of Holly Hill Road, Belvedere; Tony Beattie, aged 18, of Fishermans Hill, Northfleet, and a 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Bexley Magistrates' Court last Friday.

Harvey is charged with three offences of inflicting actual bodily harm in Masons Close, Bexleyheath, on September 23. The others faced two similar charges.

Stephen Karitzis, aged 21, of Abbey Road, Belvedere, appeared at Bromley Magistrates' Court charged with possession of a pepper spray and stun gun.

Detective Inspector Bernie Galopin, who led the operation, appealed for other victims of the gang's attacks to call police on 020 8284 9132.