Scotland Yard today launched an 80-strong task force to tackle the epidemic of soaring knife crime as another young man was stabbed to death in London.

A squad of covert and uniform officers is to be deployed to trouble spots at a moment’s notice to curb flare ups of violence across the capital.

The moves comes as police are battling a 24 per cent rise in knife crime in London amid a stream of stabbings and murders across the city.

In the latest incident a 23-year-old man died after staggering into Barnet Hospital with stab injuries at 7.30pm last night. He received emergency treatment but died an hour later.

Detectives believe he was attacked in Masefield Crescent, Southgate before being driven to hospital. There have been no arrests.

In another incident last night a 17-year-old was repeatedly stabbed in a suspected gang related attack outside the Arcola Theatre in Dalston.

The teenager was first described as critically injured but his condition this morning was described as stable.

Last week six men were killed in knife attacks in London and a total of 17 men under the age of 25 have died in stabbings this year.

Today the Met launched the eighth phase of its Operation Sceptre campaign against knife crime with details of a new squad to tackle violence and a series of measures aimed at deterring crime with a focus on working with schools.

Police say they are also rolling out a more community-led approach to tackle stabbings with elements taken from a US anti-gang strategy called the Boston Ceasefire project.

One new approach is to recruit role models and leaders from within communities to deliver anti-crime messages to young people at risk.

Detective Chief Superintendent Michael Gallagher, the operational head of the Sceptre campaign, said: “We are pushing initiatives and messages which are delivered by communities.

"It used to be the police who delivered these messages but now we are trying to get community representatives to put them across.

“The group we are trying to influence don’t want to hear messages from people like me, it will have far more impact if it comes from a mum or someone who is a role model for that group of Londoners.”

Among the role models is a street pastor from north London and a mother with a strong links to the local community.

DCS Gallagher said: “These individuals are out there in our communities, they can be anyone. I am meeting more and more people who want to do something about it. Communities are coming to us and saying ‘What can we do? These are our kids.’”

Over 900 activities are planned in London in a week of action which will include intelligence-led stop and search to target known knife offenders, weapons sweeps of estates and parks and initiatives in schools to divert young people from knife crime.

DCS Gallagher, the current commander of Brent police, said the Sceptre Task Force of 40 covert officers and 40 uniform police was being deployed to boroughs with the worst record of stabbings.

The squad, which was used in Croydon and Tower Hamlets yesterday, will support local police, carry out high visibility patrols and deploy covert teams in hotspots of knife crime.

The unit, whose officers are being drawn from boroughs, is expected to become a permanent fixture in the fight against knife crime.

DCS Gallagher said : “This is a cohort of officers that I can drop into an area to have a fast time impact, virtually immediately. It is about protecting kids.

“We will review where it deploys on a day to day basis. We have to be flexible because this is not a predictable challenge we have.”

He said the officers would be carrying out stop and search activity but said it would be done with “dignity and respect” and local community members would be encouraged to accompany patrols.

Academics, researchers form the University of London and the Office of National Statistics are also being employed by the Met to examine crime data in a bid to understand what is driving the surge in knife crime.

DCS Gallagher said: “What is clear is that it is not just the victim who is vulnerable, what is becoming quite clear is that the suspect cohort come from a chaotic background.

"It is not just driven by socio-economics, there are also mental health issues and some real vulnerability which has put them into that space of carrying or using knives.”

He said the research showed that both knife victims and suspects came from the same group adding: “This is not a black or a white thing, it is a crime thing. “Regardless of ethnicity, it is about understanding the problem.

“What I need to know is have we had a cultural shift, is it because we have a rising youth population or is it because there is more of a criminal violent element in society at the moment.”

He added: “It is a huge concern. We need to understand exactly what is going on. Hopefully, the research will give us a better idea of how to tackle this problem with the resources we have got."