POLICE in Worcestershire are asking people to give up their knives - as figures show that knife crime in the county has increased by almost 50 percent in the space of a year.

West Mercia Police is calling on people to surrender knives anonymously as part of the national “save a life, surrender your knife” campaign.

The amnesty campaign will run from July 27 to August 19, enabling people to anonymously surrender their knives.

A 'surrender bin' will be located at Worcester Police Station and the collected knives will be used to create a 20ft-high 'guardian angel' sculpture in memory of knife crime victims.

Figures show that, in south Worcestershire there were 94 offences involving knives in 2015/2016, compared with 70 in 2014/2015. North Worcestershire has seen a greater increase, with 129 offences involving knives in 2015/2016, compared with 85 in 2014/2015.

Overall, the number of offences involving knives in the county has increased from 155 in 2014/15 to 223 in 2015/16 - an increase of 43 per cent.

Supt Daryn Elton said: “Every knife taken off the streets is one less opportunity for another life to be needlessly ruined.

“The West Mercia policing area does not have a big knife crime problem but there has been an increase in incidents over the past year and each of these incidents is one too many.

“We’re proud to play our part in supporting this national campaign and helping to make the country’s streets safer for everyone.

“Knife crime doesn’t just impact upon the lives of victims but also their families and the wider community; fear of crime increases and if people see others carrying knives they think they need to do the same and the number of people carrying knives increases further.”

West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion said “Whilst knife crime is low in West Mercia compared to other areas, I would always support any initiative to get knives off the streets in our communities.

“I hope people will be reassured by this national campaign, which will help create a safer West Mercia.”

The figures cover the use of knives, daggers, bottles/glass, razors and other sharp instruments and the offences committed with knives include attempted murder, rape and robbery and sexual assault.

Anonymous knife bins will be set up across Worcestershire, with people handing in knives not required to leave their information. The bins will be available at Kidderminster, Redditch and Worcester police stations.