asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware of the public concern about the activities of gangs of young hooligans on Clapham Common; and what steps he is taking to provide adequate protection to the people lawfully using the common against the criminal activities and hooliganism of these gangs.

The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis tells me that, so far as the police are aware, no organised gangs frequent Clapham Common and that reports of acts of hooliganism have been exaggerated. The Commissioner is nevertheless taking special precautions, the details of which it would not be in the public interest to disclose.