Last updated at 18:11 03 April 2008

Youths on Britain's increasingly dangerous streets will soon be able to equip themselves with bulletproof hoodies - fuelling fears of a further increase in lawlessness.

The hoodie can allegedly stop a bullet from a 9mm Magnum handgun and protects the entire upper body.

The £300 top goes on sale later this month.

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The bulletproof hoodie, above, follows the success of an earlier knife-proof version

While the hoodie is being marketed as a sensible precaution, critics will certainly see bulletproof protection as another step up in the spiralling violence among Britain's youngsters - by prompting gangs to arm themselves even more heavily.

Barry Samms, who owns its British manufacturer Bladerunner, said today: "This hoodie stops bullets.

"Last year we launched a knife-resistant hooded top in the UK and it's selling very well. I was taken aback at how well it has sold."

He insisted that buyers of the previous top had not been confined to youths who hang around in the streets.

"We have sold those hoodies to people from every walk of life. We have sold them to NHS staff, teachers, bus drivers, train drivers and we even had a priest call up," Mr Samms said.

"When we launched the hoodies which stop knives we thought our main customers would be young males but it has really been anything but that.

"We have sold them to women who go jogging in the morning or at night and to people who catch the late train home."

The maker says the advantage of the black, machine-washable tops - which look much the same as normal hoodies - is that they do not draw attention to themselves like more conventional forms of body protection.

"I had a mother ring me last week because her son had been robbed three times in Walthamstow and she was worried about him," said Mr Samms.

"She was initially asking about stab-proof vests but I told her that these tend to attract attention. The hoodies don't cause this kind of problem."

Mr Samms, 34, said his company's new bulletproof tops were being aimed mainly at US customers - though enquiries had come from people in Britain as well.

"There are a lot of people concerned about gun crime," he said.

"I don't think it's such a problem in the UK because of the tough licensing laws. But bulletproof clothing is not as ridiculous as it first seems."