Hundreds of knives handed into Thames Valley Police
Over 300 blades have been disposed of after Operation Sceptre
Over 300 knives have been handed into Thames Valley Police as part of a week long operation to tackle violent crime across the region.
Operation Sceptre saw people encouraged to hand blades into knife amnesty bins, as well as extra police patrols targeting problem areas.
Officers also went into local schools to talk about the impact of knife crime.
52 test purchase operations were carried out in shops to make sure blades weren't being sold to underage young people.
In total 312 knives and blades were handed in. 174 were handed in in Buckinghamshire, 70 in Berkshire and 68 in Oxfordshire.
52 arrests were made during the week.
Chief Inspector Chris Young, tactical lead for knife crime, said:
“Operation Sceptre is part of our ongoing proactive work to reduce knife crime across the Thames Valley.
"This work demonstrates our continued efforts to deliver a number of activities to reduce the threat of knife crime, protect our local communities and raise awareness of the dangers involved.
“Part of our work on this operation has involved an increased police presence in our communities, with officers engaging with the public and disrupting crime throughout the week of action.
"Because of this a total of 52 arrests were made during our work on Operation Sceptre.
“It is great to see that the public have supported this campaign so positively, helping us to tackle knife crime and I would encourage local communities to continue to safely dispose of their knives via our knife amnesty bins throughout the year.”