SHOCKING new data has revealed that children as young as 10 have been bringing knives into Lancashire's classrooms.

The figures, obtained following an investigation by the Lancashire Telegraph, show a leap in the number of students found in possession of bladed weapons in schools in Blackburn in recent years.

Police data revealed that during 2016 and 2017 there were no cases recorded involving those under 16, but from January 2018 to March 2019, bladed weapons were found in the hands of students on six separate occasions.

More shockingly, the investigation revealed that children as young as 10 have been found in possession of a blade.

Cllr Maureen Bateson, the executive member for education on Blackburn with Darwen Council, has called for a clampdown on the sale of blades to minors.

She said: “There does need to be a review of the sale of knives – they should not be sold to young people.

“There was a time when young people, like scouts, would have carried knives for entirely innocent reasons, but times have now changed.

“It is deeply worrying to hear about and children need to understand that if they carry a knife, they could land themselves in serious trouble.”

Back in March, seven people were arrested after a gang armed with knives, machetes and a crowbar entered Runshaw College in Leyland.

One young boy was taken to Chorley Hospital with minor injuries.

Meanwhile in places such as Accrington, Clitheroe, Rossendale and Colne, figures remained consistent, with only one case recorded in each area over the past four years.

While the figures may be shocking to parents, compared to national figures, the problem is not as bad in Lancashire as it is elsewhere.

Earlier in the year it was reported the number of children caught with knives in schools had rocketed by 71 per cent in just three years, with Birmingham and Manchester among the areas with the greatest rises.

Speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph, a spokesman for national knife crime charity the Ben Kinsella Trust said education was key to bringing these numbers back down.

He said: “Although these figures remain low, parents will be concerned that the numbers are rising. We know knife crime often behaves like a virus – once it starts to take hold it spreads at an alarming rate.

“What we need to do is educate children much earlier on about the dangers of knife crime. 14,000 children who attended Ben Kinsella workshops have voluntarily pledged to never carry a knife.”

Across the whole of the county, 20 minors were dealt with by ways of community resolutions, youth cautions or rehabilitation programmes. In two cases the suspect was below the age of criminal responsibility and in three children were let off as prosecution was not in the public interest.

In just one case a student was charged.

The police, who often try to tackle knife crime with operations such as ‘Sceptre’ an anonymous amnesty programme, said each case of reported knife crime was taken seriously.

They said: “We are committed to keeping communities safe and tackling violent crime is a priority for us. We will continue to work 24/7 and to act on intelligence. We take all reports of offences involving a knife extremely seriously and we will continue to use all the powers at our disposal – such as stop and search – where we identify there is an issue.”