Almost 18,000 knives and associated weapons have been handed into police following a national knife amnesty that began last month, the Home Office has announced.

Since May 24th, 17,715 knives have been collected by the 43 police forces in England and Wales, with the total figure including machetes, meat cleavers and axes.

It was not just knives that the amnesty encouraged people to hand in either, with police in Devon and Cornwall shocked to receive an anti-tank rocket launcher.

Vernon Coaker, a minister at the Home Office, explained that today's figures were 'encouraging', but stressed that the fight against knife crime would continue long past the amnesty's end on June 30th.

'The national knife amnesty is just one - albeit an important one - of the many tactics being used by the government and the police to tackle the problem of knife crime in England and Wales,' he said.

Mr Coaker urged people yet to relinquish their knives to do so as soon as possible.

He commented: 'For those who have not yet handed their weapons, the message to them is that it's not too late. If you carry a knife out of self-defence, you run the risk of having it turned on you. Carrying a knife is illegal and will not be tolerated - indeed, it could land you four years in prison.

'Why risk it? Use the amnesty as an opportunity to hand over your weapon - without fear of prosecution - before you could end up on the sharp end yourself,' the minister added.

Meanwhile, Assistant Chief Constable Tony Melville of Devon and Cornwall police, who is also the Association of Chief Police Officer's (Acpo) representative during the amnesty, described today's announcement as a 'significant step towards making our streets safer'.

Knife crime has been on the political agenda recently following a series of high-profile murders caused by knives.

In May 15-year-old Kiyan Prince, a bright football prospect from Edgware, north London, died after being stabbed outside his school.

In the same month, Nisha Patel-Nasri, a special constable from Wembley, was stabbed to death on her doorstep in the early hours of the morning.

And last week teenager Alex Mulumba Kamondo, died after sustaining a knife wound during a fight in Lambeth, south London.

Source: M & C News