Fighting knife crime among young people is a key priority, police in north-west London have said following another teen stabbing.

A 17-year-old boy was found in Gooseacre Lane, Harrow, yesterday with stab wounds.

Claire Clark, head of investigations in the north-west London borough command unit (BCU), said the amount of people killed or wounded by knives in the capital is “unacceptable”.

She said the new command covering Harrow, Barnet and Brent would focus its energy on tackling the problem.

Up to November 8, 117 people had been killed by knives in London this year.

“There’s a lot of engagement work going on – some of it is working, some of it isn’t. We have to try different things,” Ms Clark said.

“We are trying to get people to understand that carrying a knife is a bad idea.

“Too many people have tragically lost their lives because they think they are safer carrying a knife. It isn’t, you are more likely to be a victim of knife crime is you do.”

She said the subject is a challenging one, something that will require a lot of work, but insisted the Met is determined to change the situation.

Community projects, such as the ‘Better Lives, No Knives’ campaign with the Old Bailey, have proved successful in terms of dramatically reducing reoffending rates.

But Ms Clark appreciates that there is much more to do and has urged organisations to come together to help solve the issue.

“The message is getting there but we can’t slow down, and we can’t do it alone – it has to be a community effort,” she said.

“We need everyone to get behind us because this is about a whole cultural sea change.

“We have to try lots of different things to see what works and that is what we are doing. It’s about engaging with young people and trying to change the conversation.”

Harrow Council is supporting the police in the area and their campaign against knife and other violent crime.

The latest administration appointed a specialist ‘crime and community cohesion’ position, and it recently secured £500,000 from the Home Office to combat youth violence in the borough.