Young people “congregating” in Romford to use its free internet and eat fast-food have been linked to recent knife crime issues in the town centre, a council scrutiny sub-committee was told. 

Senior police officers faced local politicians on March 16 after incidents including a stabbing in Popeyes restaurant, South Street, three weeks ago. 

Three teenage boys were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries on the afternoon of February 27. 

Police arrested three suspects on the day, with another arrested on March 10 after being identified through CCTV footage of the incident. 

Sgt Sarah Wolfe, speaking to a Havering Council people overview and scrutiny sub-committee, said a fifth person has also since been arrested, and that all those suspected of involvement in the incident – videos of which circulated widely on social media – have now been bailed. 

The recent problems have been linked to groups from "different parts of London", she added.

Insp Zed Asghar, who was also present, told councillors: “We have the Elizabeth Line, which is a wonderful form of transport, but also a lot of other areas such as Newham have people travelling to Romford on it. 

“They also stop at Ilford and cause a few problems there.” 

The inspector added that young people seem to be “congregating” in a shopping centre to use the free Wi-Fi and buy fast-food. 

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To deal with increased numbers of young people, particularly during the teachers’ strike, police have deployed “additional resources” and issued a 48-hour “dispersal zone” notice around Romford town centre. 

Sgt Wolfe said serious knife crime is “rare” in Romford but that officers carried out 100 “stop and searches” this month and are finding a lot of knives. 

She added that police have various powers to address anti-social behaviour from young people including banning them from an area for 48 hours, community protection warnings and criminal behaviour orders. 

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They can also call for meetings with parents, mental health teams, social services. 

Families in council housing may also receive threatening letters about their children breaching the terms of their tenancy agreements that cover anti-social behaviour. 

When pressed on why people with knives are travelling to Romford, the senior officers said they have “several working theories”, such as high levels of police presence in Stratford town centre driving them elsewhere.