A school principal has spoken out against knife crime violence and gang affiliations as victims of Wild West Britain mount.

Principal of Sir George Monoux College in Walthamstow, Dave Vasse, has argued for greater investment in safe spaces in order to fight against anti-social behaviour and gang affiliation.

He is calling for greater funding in education providers to enable evening and weekend safe spaces could help students and young people "turn their back on crime".

The principal at the Chingford Road college said: "I am very clear that the vast majority of young people desperately want to steer clear of anti-social behaviour, drug use and gang affiliation.

"Our communities have become too fragmented to provide the structure and safety net that young people need as they grow up.

"And yet, in those same communities there exists a network of safe spaces, such as schools, colleges, churches, libraries that are well-led, secure and on a daily basis working hard to instil positive values and self-belief in young people.

"What we urgently need to do is to tap into the potential of these safe spaces by making it possible for them to be open and available for longer periods in the week. Do this and we’ll see young people making positive choices and turning their back on crime."

He explained that safe spaces, such as the college, create positive environments for good behaviour.

Mr Vasse added: "At Monoux College we have created an exceptionally positive environment with good behaviour here because we have some fundamental strategies on safety: we have zero tolerance of anti-social behaviour by our students (both in and out of college) and, whilst spending an extraordinary amount of each day talking to, greeting and checking in with our students, we also monitor our site very closely.

"We think that with more investment we could have even greater impact and we call upon government to rethink how it tackles the urgent issue of fighting crime. We don’t need new campaigns and task forces – just invest in those of us in the city who are already making a difference."

He added that with more investment the college could remain open during evenings and Saturdays, allowing students time for supervised study, recreation or mentoring, as well as adding more CCTV monitoring.

"The problem is that after school or college, whilst there are some activities and we stay open as much as possible, many young people are left with pretty dire options. The local fast food restaurant is not a safe space and neither are many housing areas. Sadly, also, home is often not a great place to be for many young people.

"If we are serious about the direction of our society we must ensure that, in the last stage of education before adulthood, we motivate a new generation of optimistic and confidence citizens.

"And, right now, we’re seeing one of the consequences of underinvestment in this critical stage of education in the form of increased insecurity. Well-funded education in safe environments can change that very quickly and will reduce, for example, the exclusion rate."