Coach Steve Smith at the club with newly fitted CCTV

A BOXING club has installed CCTV cameras for the first time in 40 years amid rising crime in Kentish Town.

CJ Hussein, head coach at St Pancras Boxing Club in Talacre Road, said he had grown concerned after a member of the gym was stabbed in the leg last month.

He said he had seen open drug dealing in the surrounding streets.

“You can’t have this kind of thing happening at a boxing club when you’ve got young boys coming in to try and better themselves,” said Mr Hussein, who has been at the club since 1980.

“It’s affected us. I don’t let young ones go out for a run any more. I’ve got to keep them in here. I’ve got to answer to their parents and look after these kids.”

The club has recently taken the initiative of using the gym for extra English and maths classes for children who have fallen behind in school.

Mr Hussein said: “The reason we run this club is to help young kids make something of themselves.

“They don’t have to be the next Anthony Joshua to be successful. The boxing club can give them confidence and fitness. Now we have volunteers coming every Sunday to help them with school work.”

In the ring the club has a proud history of developing grassroots boxers who have gone on to become national and European champions.

But Mr Hussein added: “The main priority is safety and teaching the kids how to look after themselves.

“When we know we have that we can start making sure we are giving them the foundations they need to succeed in life.”