����ý

A police force has asked the government for an emergency bailout to "save children's lives" from what it calls an "unprecedented" rise in gang crime.

Bedfordshire's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Kathryn Holloway wants an extra £4.57m to cover the cost of a rise in knife and gun crime.

She believes it is the first force in the country to ask for the extra funding to deal with the issue.

The force is expected to receive a response in November.

The Home Office has been contacted for comment.

Ms Holloway said: "Nobody can tell me that we are not fighting an unprecedented threat and, given the force's well documented financial stresses, I need extra help with the budget to save children's lives and this is no exaggeration whatever."

She used the example of 17 September, when a 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death in Bedford, and in a separate incident in Luton, she said seven children were sent to hospital with stab wounds after a fight involving 14, 15 and 16-year-olds.

She said the extra money would be used to pay for the force's Op Boson Team, which has dealt with gang, gun and knife crime since 2016.

Ms Holloway said that statistics supported their application for funding, but said "it is not just a case of numbers".

She continued: "The large metropolitan areas will always have higher numbers because of the higher populations; the policing special grant exists to fund demand on a force which falls outside its normal business and this unprecedented demand on Bedfordshire Police, in my view, meets the criteria."

Last year Ms Holloway said her "overstretched" police force's future was "on the line" if it did not receive extra funding.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabularies and Fire and Rescue Services oversees all applications for a policing special grant and makes recommendations to the Home Office regarding payments.

The Policing Minister Nick Hurd will oversee Bedfordshire's application.