A youth was arrested and a knife seized by police in Kingston recently as part of the Operation Sceptre crackdown on knife crime.

On Monday evening (February 10), Grove Ward Metropolitan Police described how they and the Tudor Ward team made the arrest following a Stop and Search procedure:

"Youth stopped and searched whilst on proactive plain clothes patrols with @MPSTudor

"Within his pocket was the balaclava.

"Within his immediate vicinity was this knife.

"Male arrested and currently in custody. Positive use of stop and search once again by the team. #opsceptre," a spokesperson said on Twitter.

The 'opsceptre' hastag referenced the Met Police's landmark Operation Sceptre programme designed to tackle knife crime in London.

The crackdown includes weapons sweeps, weapon amnesties and use of the controversial Stop and Search policy, whereby officers can search any member of the public they have "reasonable grounds" to suspect of lawbreaking.