The crackdown on robbery by the borough’s police force is set to continue after the initial operation was heralded as a success.

Croydon police launched Operation Zeus in February after robbery offences in Croydon increased over the previous year.

A large number of victims were school children aged 11 to 15 who were being targeted for mobile phones and cash.

The number of personal robbery cases in Croydon rose from 1,632 in 2011 to 1,823 in 2012.

To combat the increase a new unit was launched with the aim of getting to victims quicker so criminals could be hunted while they were making their escape.

They have also been analysing CCTV faster to try and find suspects.

Detective Inspector Brian Hobbs, who heads up Operation Zeus, said he wanted to decrease robbery offences by 10 per cent and solve 15 per cent of crimes.

But the eight week operation has surpassed expectations with 21 per cent of crimes solved and robbery offences down by 10.5 per cent.

Metropolitan Police bosses have been so impressed with the operation that they have given it the go ahead for it to continue.

Chief Superintendent David Musker, who returns to his post of borough commander next week, is expected to rubber stamp the continuation of the operation upon his return.

The new unit, which is made up of 12 officers and three sergeants, will continue to get additional support from Croydon’s Crime squad and will not lose any of its operational resources.

Detective Inspector Hobbs said the aim is to continue to reduce the number of street robbery offences and target dealers who are selling on stolen goods.

DI Hobbs said: "I am quite frankly amazed at how well this has gone over such a short period of time."

"A lot of people might say that a 21 per cent detection rate isn’t high enough and we should be solving more robberies but if we had that percentage across the year we would be one of the best boroughs in London."