Wealdstone has become a top priority for Harrow police teams, which have been given additional powers in the High Street.

Last week officers confirmed that a dispersal order, which will take effect next month, would give them the jurisdiction to send home teens congregating in the area.

At a community police meeting on Monday this week chief superintendent Richard Walton, borough commander for Harrow, admitted policing Wealdstone had become his main goal.

He said: "There are concerns surrounding the area, particularly with drug dealing in the streets, but we are actively looking at tactics to address that.

"Wealdstone is a high priority, especially around the High Street and at certain times of the day Ð mainly between midnight and 2am."

The dispersal order, which has been agreed by police and Harrow Council, will allow officers to move on under-16s in groups of two or more, if they see fit.

It comes a little over a month after 19-year-old Hassan Kul Hawadleh was stabbed to death outside a petrol station in Harrow Weald, and his friend was hospitalised.

The day before the attack another man was stabbed in the buttocks in the High Street, and the area's councillors have shown their support for the new measures.

Councillor Phillip O'Dell (Lab), who represents the Wealdstone ward, said: "We welcome this move as it will bring much-needed extra policing resources to our High Street.

"We have repeatedly raised this issue with the council before, and at last some action is being taken.

"The dispersal order will give the police the extra powers they need and help reduce the fear of crime in the area, and so help residents and businesses to go about their daily lives normally."

It is anticipated that the powers will come into force from April 1 and will last for a period of six months.

But Mr Walton was careful to add that the introduction of the additional measures did not mean Wealdstone was as dangerous as some feared.

He said: "Although it has become a concern, it is still safe in Wealdstone and there are no no-go areas in the whole of this borough."