Serious youth violence is on the rise across the capital, and half of all incidents involve knives, according to a new report.

The definition of serious youth violence is that the victim is aged one to 19 and has been subject to offences such as violence against the person, sexual offences, robbery or gun or knife crime.

The report, by the Police and Crime Committee for the London Assembly, says that there were 6,290 victims of serious violence in 2015/16, an increase of 20 per cent on the figures for 2012/13.

In the four major trauma centres across London, staff reported seeing 50 young people a month at each centre who have been victims of assault.

The report also found that gangs were only involved in a small percentage of incidents.

Reasons suggested for the increase were the changing ‘criminal economy’, with more young people involved in serious crimes such as drugs, population mobility creating tensions between communities and the increased willingness of young people to carry weapons.