A young man was shot dead in London hours before demonstrators held a march to call for tougher sentences for firearm offenders.

The march had to be re-routed away from the crime scene of the early morning shooting outside Pharaoh's Pub in Peckham Road.

Police confirmed one man was killed on the spot and that another was in a stable condition in hospital after the incident.

Supporters of the march, which was organised by Southwark Community Against Guns and supported by Mothers Against Guns, described the shooting as a tragedy which had left another family devastated.

The march was re-routed because of a shooting

Mothers Against Guns founding member Lucy Cope said: said: "Another gun killing has now torn apart another family and left another mother heart-broken.

"This latest shooting demonstrates the seriousness of the problem.

"Someone's life has been taken and the government needs to do something stronger that will act as a deterrent."

Ms Cope, who is from Peckham, set the group up after she lost her 22-year-old son, Damian, in a shooting on 29 July this year.

On Saturday Ms Cope walked from Camberwell Green to Peckham Square to highlight the group's campaign for tougher sentences to be given for gun offences.

'Enough is enough'

Among the people on the march were 15 other mothers from all over the country who have lost children in gun-related crimes.

The demonstrators want anyone caught with an illegal firearm sentenced to a minimum jail term of 10 years with no possibility of parole.

Superintendent Ed Bateman, of Southwark Borough Police, estimated that about 50 local people had joined in the march.

Harriet Harman was among the protesters

He said: "Today was about the community saying 'no, enough is enough'.

"It is their children who are dying and it is their community which is suffering."

He added: "It is very poignant that on the day the Mothers Against Guns group are marching, a man was killed in a shooting on their route."

Supt Bateman admitted there were increasing concerns in all London communities over the rise in gun crimes, but he said actual numbers remained small, with an estimated 20 gun crimes a month in the Southwark Borough.

Ms Cope was also handing over a petition with an estimated 20,000 signatures to Downing Street.

Harriet Harman MP was among the speakers to address the marchers before a delegation handed over the petition.