London Mayor Sadiq Khan has called for a meeting with the Prime Minister after two more young men were stabbed to death as London's knife crime epidemic worsened.

Mr Khan called for a meeting with Theresa May and Home Secretary Amber Rudd after two young men were stabbed to death within half a mile of each other on Tuesday night.

A 17-year-old boy died in the street after being “jumped” outside a corner shop in Kentish Town. Less than two hours later a 20-year-old died after being stabbed near Belsize Park.

The latest killings came as London Assembly figures showed there were 14,521 knife crime offences in London in the year to January 2018 – up a staggering 27 per cent from 11,416 in the year to January 2017. There has also been a marked rise in knife crime across the rest of England and Wales.

Sixteen people, including six teenagers, have been stabbed to death in London already this year.

Mr Khan said the latest fatalities represented “two more lives needlessly lost to knife crime”.

“All Londoners need to know that it is simply not acceptable to carry a knife – you are putting yourself and others at risk – and you will be caught and face the full force of the law,” he said.

Mr Khan added: “We are doing everything we can from City Hall to tackle the scourge of knife crime. However, [it] is rising across the UK, not just here in London – this is a national problem that requires national solutions. Londoners need the Government’s help if we are to beat it.”

Last week, the Mayor pledged £15 million a year funding for education, sport and cultural activities for London’s most disadvantaged young people in a bid to tackle violent crime.

The 17-year-old who died last night was attacked at about 8.30pm near Saver’s Mini Mart in Bartholomew Road, yards from his home on the Peckwater estate. He was named locally as Abdikarim Hassan.

The 20-year-old was stabbed in Malden Road at about 10.13pm. He was named locally as Sadiq Aadam. His brother Mohamed Aadam, 20, was stabbed to death in Camden in September. Their cousin, Mohamed Abdullahi, also 20, was fatally stabbed in the heart in a case of mistaken identity in 2013.

On Monday, Ms Rudd promised a new effort to tackle knife violence. She told the Standard more funds would be invested in “early intervention” to stop young people carrying knives.

Met Commissioner Cressida Dick said today: “I have spoken all too often at the anger I feel at the senseless waste of life.

“Today two more families are suffering a terrible loss and my thoughts are with them. The frequency with which some of our young people are prepared to take each other’s lives is shocking.”

There have been no arrests in connection with Tuesday night's stabbings.