A 17-year-old girl was shot dead "for no reason at all" in a fatal drive-by attack during a night of violence in London.

The teenager, named locally as Tanesha, was with friends in Chalgrove Road, Tottenham, north London, when she was murdered shortly before 9.30pm on Monday.

A woman who knew the murdered girl said the victim was "just chilling with her friends" when she was shot from a car for "no reason at all".

"The car just pulled up and just started shooting," said the 21-year-old, who did not want to be named. She said she heard the gunshots "like fireworks" from her house.

Tottenham-raised rapper Wretch32, whose real name is Jermaine Scott Sinclair, tweeted: "Wish I knew what to say about what's happening in my ends. North London we're better then this man smh R.I.P to the young angel who lost her life last night. love & prayers to the family. I'm honestly lost for words."

In a separate flurry of violence on Monday night, a 16-year-old boy was left in a critical condition after he was shot in Walthamstow. Another boy, aged 15, was taken to hospital with stab injuries.

The witness in Tottenham said: "Her friend came banging on my door so I came out quickly. I even tried to save her - had to, had to."

She said the gunshot wound, below the victim's breast, was not immediately visible and it looked like she was "having a fit".

"I put her on her side and I was just rubbing her back, saying 'everything's going to be OK'. I just can't believe it - so young. It's ridiculous now."

The woman said the victim was not responding, but added: "I could see she was looking at me."

She told how the girl's mother arrived before paramedics, adding: "She was screaming. She didn't know what to do."

It only became clear the 17-year-old had been shot when the paramedics took her bra off. "She didn't deserve that. Her mum didn't deserve to watch her die," she said.

She described the victim as a "good girl", adding: "She was so lovely."

Another neighbour described the murder as "very sad".

"I heard the bangs because I sleep in the front room," she said. "I thought it was a bomb."

Describing the area, she added: "It's not nice - so many drugs, stabbings, cycles up and down - no respect for people any more."

So far this year the Metropolitan Police have launched 47 murder inquiries - eight in January, 15 in February, 22 in March and two in April.

In the whole of last year, there were 130 murders in London. The number of killings reached a peak around June before dropping again in the second half of the year.

So far this year, 31 people have been stabbed to death in the capital. The latest was a 20-year-old man who was attacked moments after leaving a bar in Wandsworth and died in the street.

On Thursday, the family of Abraham Badru, 26, who was shot dead in Hackney, east London, on March 25 warned that "gun culture is becoming rampant in our community".

There have been five fatal shootings in London so far in 2018.

The latest incidents will bring fresh scrutiny on the Government's efforts to halt rising levels of violent crime around the country.

Figures published in January showed police recorded 37,443 offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in the year ending September 2017 - a 21% increase compared with the previous year and the highest tally since comparable records started in the 12 months to March 2011.

Gun-related crime also went up by a fifth year on year, to 6,694 recorded offences.

Ministers point to findings from the separate crime survey which show overall offending is going down over the long term.

But they have acknowledged that some of the increase in police-recorded violent crime is "genuine".

In the coming weeks, the Home Office will publish a serious violence strategy, which it says will place a "new emphasis" on steering young people away from crime.

Proposed measures include a "two strikes" regime, meaning criminals caught with corrosive substances twice will automatically face a prison sentence of at least six months, and a tightening of rules covering online sales of knives.

The recent spate of violence has prompted scrutiny of a sharp reduction in stop-and-search activity, with use of the powers at the lowest level since current data records started 17 years ago.

Stop and search has repeatedly attracted controversy, with criticism focusing mainly on the number of stops of black and minority ethnic individuals.

Reforms were introduced in 2014 by then-home secretary Theresa May to ensure the tactic was used in a more targeted way.