A RIOT van has been 'pimped up' to help police reach out to youngsters and deter them from crime.
The former Met police vehicle has been fitted with a recording studio along with a plasma TV, a stereo and a games console, by the MTV television show, Pimp My Ride.
It will now be used by youth-charity, The eXceL Project (XLP), which will work with youngsters in Lewisham and Greenwich teaching them new skills and working with them on school music and drama projects.
The charity will target school art departments in urban areas helping students with their GCSE projects.
A spokesman for the Met said: "We are committed to doing whatever it takes to make London a safer place for young people.
"We recognise that we can't do that alone - and this exciting partnership is a creative and innovative approach to concerns we all share.
"We know the availability of youth facilities varies from place to place, and that young people are sometimes reluctant to travel far to access those facilities - so a mobile youth club makes perfect sense."
The charity's chief executive, Patrick Regan, said: "The newly 'pimped' van will add a fresh dynamic to our work with London's youth.
"We are looking forward to extending our work in the community arts in this innovative way, helping even more young people explore their creative potential."
The van will tour urban areas in Southwark, Bexley, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Islington as well as Lewisham and Greenwich.
Its renovation will feature in a half-hour programme on MTV One on November 30 presented by Pimp My Ride UK presenter, Tim Westwood.
For more information on XLP visit xlp.org.uk For the latest news in your area visit newsshopper.co.uk/news/local/lewgreen
The pimped up riot van features the following:
- A mixing desk
- Pro-speakers and subs
- Three wireless laptops
- A digital video camera
- Sound proof walls for vocal recording
- Microphones
- Headphones
- An electric guitar
- White leather seats
- An MP3 stereo head-unit with flipout seven-inch DVD screen
- A 40 inch plasma TV screen
- A games console with wireless controllers
- A fully-sized basket ball net which extends from the back of the van
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