CHELSEA has come bottom of a league table of shame after police were forced to arrest 106 fans last season.

The club chalked up more arrests than any other side in London, while Arsenal was close behind with 105.

The figures were published by the Home Office as Ministers pledged to crack down on hooliganism.

But Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker also praised supporters, saying just one in ten thousand fans, of the 37 million regularly attending games, were arrested for football-related violence.

And as Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City fans head to the continent this week for the next round of matches in Europe, the Home Office report also showed that only 25 arrests were made last year of fans following English teams in the Champions League and UEFA Cup competitions.

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THE Metropolitan Police has been praised for successfully recruiting more ethnic minority police officers.

But London's major police force is still not meeting it's target of ensuring a quarter of all new recruits come from black or other ethnic minority communities.

Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker published a report revealing 199 of the Met's 1,114 new recruits this year came from ethnic minorities - 17.9 per cent of the total.

It means 2,594 of the Met's 31,460 officers, 8.2 per cent, are now from ethnic minorities.

The force has been set a target of aiming to recruit 25 per cent of police from ethnic minority communities, to ensure its officers reflect the population of London as a whole.

But although it was some way from achieving this, it was singled out for praise in Mr Coaker's report - just one month after the Black Police Officer's Assocation launched a boycott of the force.

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BORIS Johnson wants to recruit the Scouts and Girl Guides to cut youth crime by helping young people develop self-respect and character.

The proposal is part of an action plan launched by the London Mayor as part of a "radical new approach" to rehabilitating young oddenders.

It is backed by the Metropolitan Police, and was drawn up in response to teenage murders and increased youth violence in London.

Mr Johnson said Britain can take "great pride" in its young people, but added: "A small but significant minority have seriously disengaged from society and I believe we must respond in two ways.

"Firstly through highly visible policing to deter criminality and secondly through measures to address the complex root causes of crime, exclusion and violence."

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THE Metropolitan Police has launched a new review of proposals to axe more than a third of London's police stations, and revealed the economic crisis may force the plans to be scrapped.

The police authority has drawn up plans to axe 65 of the 174 stations in Greater London, on the grounds that they are old and unsuitable for modern policing.

It insists that no final decisions have been made, and no stations with front counters- where members of the public can talk to police officers and staff - will be closed until alternative facilities are in place.

But it suspended the closure programme earlier this year after a public consultation revealed widespread opposition.

It has now appointed a panel to review the plans, to be chaired by chartered surveyor Graham Speed.

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JACK Straw's call for a greater focus on punishing offenders has been condemned by an MP calling for more attention to be paid to rehabilitation.

Lynne Featherstone (Lib Dem Hornsey and Wood Green) said: "We need to talk more about effectiveness, not vindictiveness."

Mr Straw, the Justice Secretary, attacked prison reform campaigners for failing to think about the needs of victims of crime.

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THE British army should be redeployed from Basra and bought onto the streets of London to stamp out violent youth crime, an MP has claimed.

Andrew Pelling (Croydon Central) said he knew the proposal was controversial, but it would "send the message that we will no longer tolerate the killings."

The army's experience in trying to keep order in war-torn Iraq would be equally useful in London, he said.

The MP made the extraordinary plea in a House of Commons debate on violent crime among London teenagers, which has led to the death of 27 youths in the capital already this year.

Mr Pelling is a former Conservative MP who lost the party whip over allegations of assault last year, and now sits as an independent.

He revealed he had already written to Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker asking him to deploy the army.

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MORE than 3,000 registered sex offenders are currently living in London, the Metropolitan Police have revealed.

And 300 were cautioned of convicted last year for breaching the terms of their registration - for example by failing to inform police when they changed address.

The figures were published in a report designed to highlight the work of police, probation officers and the prison service to protect the public once sex offenders are released back into the community.

Lewisham is the borough with the most registered sex offenders, and is currently home to 190. It is followed by Lambeth, where 177 sex offenders live.

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