Police warn knife carriers across Lancashire ‘drop your weapons or we’re coming for you’

Operation Sceptre, an intense week-long blitz on blades, saw 16 bins being set up at various points across the county where members of the public can discard knives anonymously.

OpSceptre is designed to raise awareness of the consequences of carrying a blade, with officers visiting schools, giving advice to shops on the laws of selling knives and executing knife sweeps.

"Carrying a knife for protection is illegal and if you’re found to be in possession of one, you could be arrested and prosecuted," said a Lancashire Police spokesperson.

"We’ve installed knife bins across the county to keep knives off our streets, reducing their potential to cause harm and keeping people safe. These containers are a safe and secure way to anonymously dispose of unwanted knives."

Three knife bins have been placed in the Preston area. They are at Onward Homes in Princess Street, Avenham; Kingsfold Community Centre in Penwortham and at Gammull Lane car park, Ribbleton.

Others are in Central Drive, Morecambe; under Carlisle Bridge in Morecambe Road, Lancaster; London Street, Fleetwood; The Grange in Dinmoor Avenue, Blackpool; Blackpool Boys and Girls Clubs in Bowness Avenue; Claremont Office COC in Egerton Road, Blackpool; Revoe Library in Grasmere Road, Blackpool, as well as two in Skelmersdale, and others in Waterfoot, Burnley, Darwen and Accrington.

Operation Sceptre is a national anti-knife crime initiative. In November the campaign in Lancashire recovered 1,390 knives in one week. The county force organised 28 weapon sweeps in public areas, set up a number of test purchases in shops, carried out eight search warrants and officers were involved in 206 stop and searches on the streets.

At the time Andrew Snowden, Lancashire’s Police and Crime Commissioner said: “These are great results and every single one of these dangerous weapons removed from our streets makes the county safer.

“I will always ensure the Constabulary has the resources needed to proactively tackle knife crime and put offenders behind bars. The carrying of knives is not acceptable and those who do should know that officers will stop them.

“Through getting tough on offenders whilst also educating people around the dangers, we will make Lancashire safer, whilst ensuring offenders, and their weapons, are removed from our streets.”