Asian traders will be asked to make a one-off �250 donation to help fight crime in the South Asian community.

Police say such partnerships help create new ways of fighting crime, tailored to specific communities.

Asian gangs have been linked to crimes ranging from human trafficking and passport forgery to kidnap and murder.

Most of the Asian communities are law abiding citizens who make a great contribution to the economic life of London Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur

The Business Partnerships Certificate Campaign is being supported by the London Chamber of Commerce's Asian Business Association.

Police say they are using lessons learnt by Operation Trident which investigates gun crime in black communities.

The Met's Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur said people from South Asian communities wanted organised crime tackled and wanted to play a positive role themselves.

"Most of the Asian communities are law abiding citizens who make a great contribution to the economic life of London," he said.

"It is only a small minority of criminals who are involved in organised criminal networks and their activities cause widespread harm both to their own and to all communities of London."

Among communities identified for this initiative are people from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.