Two teenagers have been charged with a string of offences including attempted murder following recent firearms incidents in Newham.

Officers from Newham and the Specialist Firearms Command carried out searches at addresses in Plaistow and East Ham on Sunday and arrested two men.

They have been named as Awadeh Saleh, 18 of Chesterton Terrace in Plaistow and Cameron Johnson, 19 of Frinton Road in East Ham.

They were charged with attempted murder, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, grievous bodily harm with intent and possession of an imitation firearm in a public place at Thames Magistrates Court yesterday.

Saleh was also charged with driving whilst disqualified and having no insurance, whilst Johnson was charged with possession of a prohibited weapon.

The charges relates to three alleged incidents in Newham over the last week.

The most recent incident was on Saturday - a double shooting in Prince Regents Lane left two 19-year-olds needing hospital treatment. One was shot in the shoulder and one in the foot. Both men are in a stable condition.

Another of the incidents occurred on Thursday - two 21-year-olds remain in hospital after a shotgun was fired near Viking Gardens, Beckton.

Earlier the same day a shotgun was also fired in Barking Road, Upton Park. No one was injured.

Detective superintendent Neil Matthews, from Newham, said: “We are painfully aware of the recent firearms incidents in our borough that are blighting our communities.

“In response to this we have increased uniformed and non-uniformed policing resources. We have been deploying patrols across the borough drawn from our own local teams and specialist departments across the Met, with a view to detecting offences and attempting to prevent offending where possible.”

Anyone with information about gun crime in the borough should call 101, or to give information anonymously call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.