Thousands of knives were seized from a stall in Blackpool as part of action to crack down on violent crime in the town.
The operation was part of measures which also include the use of scanners at night clubs to prevent knife crime. Teams from the council’s Trading Standards department also monitor local stores to ensure weapons are not being sold illegally.
The information was part of an update given to a meeting of the council’s Climate Change and Environment Scrutiny Committee which heard knife crime accounts for one per cent of all violent crime in Lancashire.
Figures from the Lancashire Serious Crime Strategy 2020 – 2025, which was presented to the committee, show violent crime in Blackpool increased to 11,028 incidents in 2021/22 compared to 8,950 in 2020/21.
Violent crime includes homicide, knife crime, gun crime, assault resulting in injury, rape, robbery, aggravated burglary, domestic abuse with violence, and child exploitation (sexual and criminal).
Dominic Blackburn, community safety manager at Blackpool Council, told the meeting the town does not have any significant levels of gun crime while steps are taken to prevent knife crime.
He said: “There are guns, but they tend to be air guns. In terms of crime involving knives and machetes, we do really well with intelligence gathering to combat this and have a daily meeting where any concerns are raised.”
He told councillors one initiative saw officers visit a market stall in Blackpool after receiving information it was selling “thousands of knives, some legal and some illegal”.
There was evidence the knives were being sold to young people, and Mr Blackburn added: “We took the lot and put them in storage. We took thousands of knives away and most of them were illegal.”
Knife bins have also been used as part of knife amnesties, while Mr Blackburn also told the committee: “We check with shops selling knives to see if they are adhering to our guidelines and we carry out test purchasing operations with our Trading Standards teams.”
A report to the committee said action also includes knife crime prevention education packs being delivered to schools twice a year.
In November 2023 a task force was set up to monitor and tackle violent crime in Blackpool with a further report due in March.
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