Knife wands are part of new measures to tackle violent crime.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has urged more schools to use knife wands, which are offered as part of a package of measures to crack down on knife crime.

Currently 76 schools in the capital use the wands under the Mayor's scheme, which also includes increased funding into knife and gang crime projects and a downdloadable toolkit for schools to help them deal with the crimes.

Deputy Mayor for policing and crime Sophie Linden has written to schools across London to urge them to take City Hall up on its offer for the metal-detecting wands.

Mayor Khan said: "Knife crime ruins lives and devastates communities, and my thoughts remain with the families of the four young men tragically killed in four unrelated stabbings on New Year’s Eve.

"These heartbreaking deaths reinforce our determination to rid London’s streets of this scourge, and I know that the Met police are urgently working to bring those responsible for these horrific acts of violence to justice.

"But this is a problem that cannot be solved by the police alone. Schools have a vital part to play in our fight against knife crime by creating a safe, positive place for students, spotting danger signs and spreading the message that carrying a knife is more likely to ruin your life than save it."

This further writing to schools comes after four men were fatally stabbed in separate incidents across the capital on New Year's Eve.

The Mayor of London also made £250,000 of seed funding available to local communities across London to fund work with young people preventing and protecting them from knife crime, extra to the additional £625,000 of funding towards knife and gang projects, bringing funding in this area up to £7million.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said: "We have spoken before about the need to mobilise communities against knife crime; and the work of schools - where young people spend so much of their time - is an essential part of this. Teachers, like us as police officers as well as parents, have a responsibility to use their position to inform and educate young people about the dangers of knife crime.

"Every child should be able to go to school in a safe environment, and the use of knife wands can only have a positive impact. There is some excellent work going on out there and having more than 290 officers across 550 schools has enabled an open dialogue between police, young people and staff. What we need now is for this to be standard in every school in London.

"Knife crime has a devastating effect; it is only by working together that we can have any meaningful impact on this complex societal issue."