Rally against gun crime

Gun crime is growing in parts of London

Church leaders and politicians are joining local people in a rally and march against the twin problems of gun crime and crack cocaine in the communities of south London.

July was the worst ever month for shootings in the capital with 20 people shot and five deaths - most of the shootings were drug-related.

The rally in Lambeth comes as police are trying to tackle the problem of crack cocaine dealing in the borough with an eight-month special operation.

The Reclaiming Our Community march assembles at midday in Brixton.

Community response

The organisers of Saturday's march, the Trident Independent Advisory Group, say their aim is to "reject the presence of crack dealers and gunmen on our streets".

The group is made up of local community representatives and Lambeth police liaison officers advising Operation Trident - a police unit dealing with violence in the black community.

The Lambeth police operation against crack cocaine was announced earlier this month.

Twelve raids a week are planned on crack houses in the borough as well putting more officers on the beat in the town centre to tackle the dealers.

The eight-month operation has also involved covert operations, CCTV monitoring and the setting up of mobile police stations.