The wardens will be dressed in black and red uniforms and will patrol the area in south London where the 10-year-old boy was stabbed in November 2000.

They are designed to act as extra "eyes and ears" for the police.

Southwark Council has recruited nine of the wardens in a �250,000-a-year scheme to crack down on crime.

We have pledged to create a greener, safer borough and we are doing everything possible to make Peckham a safer and more pleasant environment

Nick Stanton, Southwark Council

The teams will be on the streets for 14 hours a day, six days a week from Wednesday.

The leader of Southwark Council Nick Stanton said the new wardens will be trained to work as "professional witnesses" for the police.

Mr Stanton said: "We hope that this scheme will benefit everyone who lives, works or shops in Peckham.

"In fact, we've already had good feedback to the idea from local people.

"The new wardens have strict targets and the council and the local police will be working hard to make sure that they are met."

The wardens will have the power to issue �50 penalties to people who drop litter.

Crime targets

They will also be set targets for cutting overall crime by 10% and levels of street crime in particular by 12%.

They will also be given the job of making the streets cleaner places with 90% of streets expected to be litter-free.

The wardens have also been set the tasks of cutting out unlicensed street trading, reducing graffiti and fly-tipping and increasing the removal of abandoned cars.

"We have pledged to create a greener, safer borough and we are doing everything possible to make Peckham a safer and more pleasant environment," said Mr Stanton.

The scheme is being part-funded by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's office.