Residents are being encouraged to hand in their unwanted knives as part of a national knife amnesty.

All this week Dorset Police say they won’t prosecute anyone who hands in their unwanted knives or bladed items at police stations.

It comes amid a rise in knife-related incidents in areas of Dorset.

Operation Sceptre is a national police initiative, which started back in 2015.

It aims to remove unwanted knives or bladed weapons from public usage in a bid to tackle knife-related crime.

Knives can be dropped off anonymously at secure bins at Weymouth, Poole, Bournemouth and Blandford police stations - including illegal lock knives, ‘zombie’ knives, samurai swords, kitchen knives, collectibles, replicas and ceremonial items.

In addition to the availability of bins into which people can anonymously drop off unwanted knives, proactive policing will be taking place in “hot spot” areas which have seen a rise in knife-related incidents, and also identification and intervention activity in relation to habitual knife carriers.

Inspector Stuart Pitman said: “Here in Dorset we do not share the extent of knife crime reported in some major metropolitan areas of the country.

“However, we are not complacent, there has been a rise in knife-related incidents in localised areas and so, alongside proactive policing, Dorset Police is supporting this week’s national knife amnesty as part of its ongoing local approach focussing upon prevention. Any knife taken out of circulation and off the street helps to prevent injuries and deaths.”

The last knife amnesty in Dorset, which ran for a week in March, saw more than 200 knives and blades handed into be destroyed, these included – ornamental swords, a set of nunchucks, an axe, a hammer to name but a few.

The maximum penalty for an adult carrying a knife is four years in prison and an unlimited fine. You’ll get a prison sentence if you’re convicted of carrying a knife more than once.

Guidance on basic laws on knives, banned knives and weapons and legitimate reasons for carrying a knife can be found on the Government’s website here: www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives