Croydon Council has received £165,000 to tackle crime in the town centre.

The money has come from the government’s Safer Street Funds.

The funding will be used for projects aimed at reducing personal robberies, knife crime and violence in the town centre with a focus on intervention for girls, especially since the recent murder of Elianne Andam.

The council will continue to work with community partners to deliver outreach sessions that will intervene with young people who are most vulnerable to offending and criminal exploitation.

There will also be a focus on delivering specific female outreach in the town centre.

The aim is to work with women and girls at risk of entering the criminal justice system by engaging and steering young women away from crime.

The extra funding will also deliver group sessions and one-to-one sessions with young women and will also focus on personal safety.

When elected in May 2022, Executive Mayor Jason Perry pledged to make Croydon a cleaner, healthier and safer place to live and to work for everyone.

The council has worked with Croydon Met Police, BID Rangers and outreach organisations to tackle antisocial behaviour and help vulnerable people get the support they need.

A Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) was also launched in May, giving the police extra powers to tackle antisocial behaviour.

The funding from the Safer Streets Fund will be used to fund these projects across the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years.

Jason Perry, Executive Mayor for Croydon, said: “I promised to listen to residents and to work to make Croydon a safer place to live for everyone.

“This funding from the Home Office is an important step towards making our town centre spaces more welcoming and to tackle violence against women and girls.

“Residents, businesses and visitors to our town centre need to feel safe and the extra resources from this funding will help to tackle street crime and restore pride in our borough.”