MORE than 100 mothers and children marched through Sheffield in South Yorkshire on Saturday to demand action against gang violence in the city.

The Mothers United group was formed after growing rivalry between gangs in Sheffield saw knife and gun crime soar, with children being recruited and groomed by rival gangs.

Organiser Jennifer Dunston said that children not yet in secondary school were being groomed to act as drugs “mules.”

She said that the closure of youth clubs, after-school clubs and Sure Start projects since the election of the Tory-Lib Dem coalition was a major factor in the rising problem, and also blamed a lack of co-ordination between police and council departments.

“I saw a child outside my house pull a knife on another child. They weren’t even secondary school age,”  she said.

“Children are excluded from school and left to roam the streets and are recruited and groomed by the gangs. 

“Anyone walking from one gang’s area into another is at risk. Our children are at risk. It is a real risk for every family in the city.”

Saturday’s mile-long march was deliberately routed along the border between two gangs’ areas.

“It was mainly women from all the communities in the city. There were Muslims, Jews, Christians and people of no religion all marching together. 

“We were making the point that this is our city. Our children will go where they want to. We will go where we want to,” Ms Dunston said.

The group includes families whose children have been victims or perpetrators of gang violence in Sheffield.