Small children who are too young to face prosecution are the latest weapons in gang warfare, a secret police document suggests.

The kids are being armed with guns and sent into the Winstanely estate in Battersea to shoot at rival gang members, according to documents seen exclusively by the Wandsworth Guardian.

A police source later claimed the information was just one strand of “intelligence”, but said there was no evidence to suggest it was true.

According to the document, those being targeted are members of the notorious Stick Up Kids (SUK) gang.

It is not clear who the other gang is, but SUK has been locked in bitter rivalry with Mitcham-based Terror Zone (TZ) for years, resulting in the murder of SUK member Eugene Attram in 2006.

Speaking this week, his mother Maureen Enyonam said: “It’s so sad this is happening. But it couldn’t be for Eugene – I have been saying don’t take revenge. And he would be 19 now, his friends are all grown up. I’m shocked this is still happening.”

The age of criminality is now 10 years old, meaning children below this age are unable to be prosecuted.

This could be why older members are thought to seek younger children for gang-related “tasks”.

SUK is said to recruit members via its junior branch, the Surrey Lane Soldiers (SLS), which is made up of younger boys.

Two weeks ago, police reported four gun incidents in Battersea – in Wye Street, Lavender Hill, Westbridge Road and Northcote Road. However, it is unclear whether these incidents are linked or whether they involved children.

Chief Superintendent Stewart Low said: “Wands- worth police remain committed to tackling serious youth violence including gun and knife crime.

“As a direct result of our close working relationship with the community, council and partners, we regularly gather intelligence and information pertaining to possible crimes. Not all of the information we receive is accurate, but we have a duty of care to the residents of Wandsworth to evaluate and risk assess all types of data.”