Police have launched a nation wide crackdown on "a culture of violence", as a new study revealed that there are over 300 criminal gangs in Scotland.

The new figures, from the Nationwide Violence Reduction Unit, assessed groups across the country for the first time, exposing a territorial gang culture associated with knife crime and drugs.

The report comes after three men were remanded in custody last month after a chilling series of knife attacks in Edinburgh.

James Paxton, 23, carried out three knifings, two of which were ordered by teenage killer James Demarco, who listened to the victim’s screams over a mobile phone from within his cell at Saughton Prison.

Demarco had ordered Paxton to "stab [the] fuck out" of one of Paxton's victims, who he suspected had slept with his girlfriend.

The phone call, in which Paxton used a machete to attack Stewart, was played to a judge at the High Court in Edinburgh on 20 February.

Amidst the victims screams Demarco could be heard laughing, as Paxton said “I just fucking sliced and diced wi' ma machete. I couldnae find ma sword or it was goin' right through him."

The police crackdown will involve extra police on the streets, targeting youths in more stop and searches.

They will also use ‘diversionary tactics’ like sport and drama, to deter the 20-25 per cent of boys considered to be in danger of joining criminal gangs from participating in violence.

Strathclyde Police Chief Constable Steve House said: "The extra police officers are not a one-off and this campaign is not a short-term fix. We are in this for the long haul.

"This is not just about throwing resources at a problem. There is a lot of background, intelligence-gathering work being done and officers will be working where specific problems have been identified.”

Mr House cited one gang in the West of Scotland that had committed 448 crimes in just 11 months. He said: “That is 13 crimes per gang member. And that's just the crimes we know about.

"Every one of these crimes has a victim. There are decent people being blighted by these crimes."

Crime statistics have shown Scotland to have the highest number of knife crimes in Europe, with most crimes occurring in Glasgow.

Mr House said: “People in gangs will not be able to hide… we will use the full force of the law to de-glamorise, divert, detect and disrupt this disease that has blighted communities, particularly in the west of Scotland, for generations."