Uniformed officers could soon be patrolling two more schools in the borough, according to Lewisham's police chief Mike Humphrey.

He hopes to repeat the success at Forest Hill Boys in Dacre Park, Forest Hill, which has had a community officer patrolling since September.

The officer regularly talks to pupils and provides a police presence in the surrounding area to give pupils who are often victims of crime themselves some support.

Chief Superintendent Humphrey said: "This is a golden opportunity to reduce crime.

"Young people are more often the victims of crime than the perpetrators, so this is about providing them with the support they need.

"I will be approaching another two schools to ask them if they would like to work more closely with us."

He added: "Young people are the hardest to reach of any group. We are there to provide them with a service."

Forest Hill Boys School headteacher Pete Walsh says the school does not have a crime problem but the community officer lent a valuable presence to the surrounding area.

He added: "He is very popular and tells pupils about potential danger areas and sometimes even walks with them home.

"The main asset has been to build confidence in my pupils that the police are there for them."

According to the Department for Education and Schools (DfES), 40 per cent of street crime, 25 per cent of burglaries, 20 per cent of criminal damage and a third of car thefts are carried out by 10 to 16-year-olds at times when they should be in school. Three out of 10 prisoners admit they truanted regularly.

The Government announced a £66m package to get 100 officers into schools in 10 areas of high crime, last week, following the success of schemes in areas like Lewisham.

DfES head Estelle Morris said: "The bad news is, the link between truancy and crime is too great to ignore. The good news is, if we do something about it, we can actually begin to reverse it and make progress."