Hertfordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) David Lloyd joined Theresa May on Monday to talk about serious youth violence and knife crime.

PCC Lloyd was invited to the round table meeting at 10 Downing Street with the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary Sajid Javid, London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan, and Cabinet members.

Mrs May called for “a great cooperated long-term effort” between bodies such as the NHS and schools.

Speaking after the event, Mr Lloyd said: “I am very supportive of the government proposal which says that we cannot just arrest ourselves out of this problem.

“During the discussions I made the point that knife crime is different in the rural areas, such as Hertfordshire, than it is in the urban areas, but the threat is still there.

“We face the threat of travelling criminality from London and other areas spilling over into our county.

“Hertfordshire remains a very safe county but we all have work to do to tackle this menace.”

The two-day summit was attended by more than 100 experts including Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, and Baroness Newlove, the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales.

The government says its plan is intended to “help spot the warning signs that a young person could be in danger, such as presenting in A&E with suspicious injury, to worrying behaviour at school, or issues at home”.

A record number of knives, 680, were surrendered in Hertfordshire in the latest knife amnesty.

The Hertfordshire PCC approved half the funding recently for a £280,000 scheme, matched by the county council, aiming to safeguard children and young adults in the county who are at risk of being drawn into gangs or serious crime.

These efforts follow youth activities such as a recent talk at the University of Hertfordshire, where young people heard from former gang members and victims of crime about the impact of knife crime.