A group of mums have launched their own crime-fighting 'patrol' after several of their young children had phones stolen at knifepoint.

Sinead Masterson formed the squad having grown frustrated at the alleged inaction of police after her 13-year-old son had his phone taken by an older boy with a knife.

The 34-year-old claims officers took 11 days to even come and take a statement from her "vulnerable" son, who has autism. "

The mum-of-three later learned of several similar robberies in Islington, north London, and contacted other parents who have now decided to take matters into their own hands.

The group recently recruited crowds of well over a hundred locals to march through the capital's street at the end of last month, demanding 'safe streets' and chanting: "Keep crime off our streets; keep our children safe!"."

Nursery manager Ms Masterson said: "There are around seven of us doing the morning [patrols] between 8:15 and 9 and seven doing the evenings at 3:30 to 4:30. "

"Everyone's working around their children and their jobs. "

"My 13-year-old son was followed home by some older boys who robbed him of his phone. "

"One of them threatened him with a knife. "

"I was made aware and called the police, but they took 11 days to come and take a statement from [my son]. "

"A week later another boy had been robbed and a day after another two children were robbed."

Ms Masterson set up a WhatsApp group for concerned parents in the area after gaining a huge response from a post on Facebook.

She says she doesn't feel the Metropolitan Police are taking the muggings seriously enough and adds that her son's school only addressed the spate of robberies recently - despite them having occurred for weeks.

"The police aren't taking it too seriously," Ms Masterson continued. "11 days is a long time to take a statement from a vulnerable 13-year-old. "

"One of the boys at my son's school had a knife put to his throat a couple of days ago at eight in the morning, on his way to school. "

"All the kids are worried and I don't think the police are taking it too seriously. They have nobody patrolling the area. "

"The school only sent an email to parents [on 02/12, to warn them]. "

"Two others were robbed before my son and we were not alerted. "

"Me and my partner would have met him from school and he might not have been robbed - and the other children might not have been robbed. "

"There's not much aftercare from the school, either; just a long waiting list for counselling. "

"It's really affected my son. He has autism and doesn't understand what has happened. "

"Us mums have got together. We don't know what we would do [if we saw a child getting mugged], but we would act on mother's instinct. "

"A couple of the children who robbed the other kids have been wearing the same uniforms."

"We just walk around together and go to all the hotspots where kids have been robbed, telling kids to put their phones away and just keeping an eye on the kids going to school. "

"We could really do with the support of the police right now, but we don't feel they have taken us seriously, so we have had to take matters into our own hands."

Ms Masterson, though initially disappointed with the police response, said that since the march last month, police presence around her son's school seemed to have increased.

However, she admitted she'd since heard reports of robberies at another school around 15 minutes down the road, and worries they could be back before long at her son's school.

"I think the government have a lot answer for; making cut-backs hasn't helped and laws need to be stricter," Ms Masterson added. "

"[Those] arrested for robberies are not doing jail time so [there's] no deterrent."

Superintendent Jack May-Robinson, of Islington Neighbourhoods team, said the force was aware of "heightened community concern" following reports of robberies of young people in Islington."

"We are aware of recent concerns linked to robberies in the Islington area and are investigating those that have been reported to us," he said. "

"We appreciate the heightened community concern, particularly among parents, as several reports appear to involve young people."

"Please rest assured we have increased police patrols and are doing what we can to keep the community safe."

"We have been working hard to reduce incidents of robbing in Islington. "

"Since the start of the financial year, we have seen a 13.5 per cent reduction of such crime in the area."