MORE than 1,500 knives handed into police in Lancashire during an amnesty have been turned into scrap.

Police today hailed the five-week campaign a success after swords and machetes were among weapons surrendered.

At the close of the amnesty earlier this week, the 1,525 weapons were taken to a scrap metal yard where they were destroyed in a crusher.

Chief Inspector Val Prince said: "This has been a very successful operation with a number of potentially dangerous weapons now taken off the streets.

"Thankfully, knife crime in Lancashire is relatively rare.

"Although there have been a small number of incidents in the county during the campaign period, knife crime accounts for less than one quarter of one per cent of all crime.

"This amnesty was an opportunity for people to hand in dangerous and illegally held weapons and we are pleased that so many items were surrendered.

"However, we continue to be concerned about knife crime.

"Anyone who carries a knife on the streets with more than a three-inch blade is committing an offence and could be prosecuted.

"Police in Lancashire currently arrest more than 300 people a year for this offence.

"It's also worth knowing that anyone who carries a knife for self-defence is highly likely to have that weapon used on them."