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Sadiq Khan has urged Theresa May to take a tougher stance on knife crime - telling Sky News she must "take ownership" of a link between school exclusions and rising levels of violence.

The London mayor is urging the prime minister to intervene earlier to help "vulnerable children", and said that he is also focusing resources on addressing the problem.

Mr Khan told Sunrise that the practice of "off-rolling" - which sees schools ask a child to leave without officially excluding them - was leading to a spate of stabbings.

At least 35 people have been deliberately stabbed to death since the start of 2019 - with four fatal stabbings over the past six days.

Mrs May has promised to host a knife crime summit and put more resources into policing to bring down the number of deaths.

She was challenged directly by Mr Khan on Thursday to look at the "deep-seated problems" that lead to knife crime.

The London mayor pointed out that, in England and Wales, more than 7,000 children were excluded from school in 2017 - a jump of 4,000 from three years previously.

But in Glasgow, only one child in the Scottish city was excluded in 2017 because the education system works differently.

Mr Khan also cited the HM Inspectorate of Prisons, which recently said that 90% of those being held in young offender institutions were excluded children.

:: The areas where knife crime is rising fastest

Mr Khan told Sky News: "Vulnerable children who, without support, can go on to get involved in criminal gangs or get involved in criminality.

"I'm not saying every child who gets excluded will turn into a criminal, but there is a link and we think the prime minister needs to take ownership of this issue."

UK's surge of violence: At least 35 stabbed to death this year

A list of those who are known to have died in stabbings so far in 2019.

Police and crime commissioners from the West Midlands, South Yorkshire, Humberside, Northumbria, West Yorkshire, Leicestershire and South Wales all signed a letter with him on the issue.

They urged Mrs May to "drop this dangerous delusion" that police cuts were not correlated with certain crimes.

Earlier this week, the prime minister - who formerly served as home secretary - had argued there was "no direct correlation between certain crimes and police numbers".

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick contradicted her, saying there "must be some link" between crime and police cuts.

Downing Street later shifted its tone, with the prime minister's spokesperson saying: "Clearly resources and powers are important."

The number of officers in the 43 territorial forces in England and Wales has fallen by more than 20,000 since 2009.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid called in chief constables for an emergency summit on Wednesday to discuss knife crime, and vowed to treat the issue "like a disease".

He said afterwards: "I'm absolutely committed to working with the police in doing this.

"We have to listen to them when they talk about resources."

Mr Javid's comments came as a man, believed to be in his mid-20s, was stabbed to death in Leyton, east London, on Wednesday evening.