More than 60 knives taken off city streets

Sixty-four knives were collected in St Albans over three months

Sixty-four knives have been taken off the streets of a city centre in the past three months, as part of a police crackdown.

Hertfordshire Police said the knives had been collected in St Albans since 1 September.

The force said as part of a week of action last week it carried out knife sweeps, organised test knife purchases in a number of shops and spoke to school and college students about the dangers of carrying blades.

Ch Insp Martin Turpin said it was to reinforce the message that "carrying a knife is illegal and will not keep you safe".

Knife sweeps took place across St Albans, including in local parks - where none were found

Knife sweeps took place at Oaklands College, Links Academy and at a number of parks, but none were found, the force said.

Officers spoke to primary school pupils and teenagers were given the opportunity to try a knife scenario on VR headsets at Oaklands College.

The force said two shops failed to stop undercover police cadets, aged 16 and 17, from buying kitchen knives and a pen knife, and a Harpenden shop allowed a cadet to buy a pair of scissors.

Students at Oaklands College took part in virtual reality knife scenarios

Ch Insp Turpin said: "Knife-related crime remains low in the St Albans district, but the campaign aims to reinforce the message that carrying a knife is illegal and will not keep you safe."

He said tactics were used throughout the year to prevent anyone, especially young people, from arming themselves with a knife.

"Please do speak to your children about the dangers of knives and remember - lives not knives."

Police were at St Albans market on 13 November to spread the message