A NORTH-EAST police and crime commissioner last night backed calls for 10,000 officers to be put back onto the streets to tackle violent crime.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid yesterday met with chief constables, including Mike Barton of Durham Police, after several young people were stabbed to death at the weekend.

A joint letter was later sent to the Government signed by senior Labour politicians urging the Prime Minister to act. It said nationwide there had been a 93 per cent rise in children under 16 being stabbed since 2013, taking knife crime to “the highest level since records began”.

Describing the situation as a “national crisis”, the letter called on Theresa May to convene COBRA, put 10,000 police officers back on the streets and rebuild Sure Start and youth services.

Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner Barry Coppinger, who signed the letter, said: “Rather than a lengthy bureaucratic process that requires police forces to bid for short-term grants, what we need is an immediate increase in police grant allocations to effectively tackle this issue.”