Pledging to erase “citizens’ fears” and guarantee their security, Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s newly elected prime minister, on Wednesday announced tough new measures to combat crime and illegal immigration.

Holding his first cabinet meeting in the rubbish-infested city of Naples, as he had promised in his election campaign, Mr Berlusconi also declared that troops would guard newly identified sites for the dumping of thousands of tonnes of ­rubbish.