Lily Allen meets mayor Boris Johnson to talk knife crime

Lily Allen has had an audience with London Mayor Boris Johnson to give her views on the current knife crime situation.

The singer spent 45 minutes canvassing the Mayor at City Hall after posting a direct appeal to the capital's Tory chief on her Myspace internet site.

Lily outlined several proposals to help challenge the idea that knife crime is cool and to encourage teenagers to be more ambitious about their future.

Johnson said afterwards: "I welcome any constructive suggestions on combating knife crime and Lily Allen has already proved her commitment to help address this problem. I welcome her proposals and am keen to explore further how she can help us address this serious and distressing problem.

"There is nothing romantic or glamorous about knife crime and I'm delighted Lily will be using her considerable profile and fan base to spread that message."

The meeting was sparked by Lily's original post earlier this month on her blog which said: "Please can everyone stop stabbing each other in the UK. It's really sad, my thoughts are with all the families affected by these heinous crimes.

"We need to have a knife amnesty, we should put on a big concert to raise awareness and stop the violence, Boris, if your listening call me man. Speak soon peeps xxx."

Lily also suggested holding an awareness-raising pop concert, but nothing has come of that idea yet.