MORE than 900 knives which were handed into police as part of an amnesty across East Lancashire will be melted down and turned into a sculpture.

The weapons, ranging from swords, machetes and commando knives, will be used to create a Guardian Angel sculpture, which will act as a national memorial for victims of knife crime.

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The British Ironwork Centre, near Oswestry in Shropshire, received the donation of around 900 knives collected during the Lancashire Force’s recent knife amnesty, which started at the end of August.

The centre is also designing, creating and providing bespoke knife collection banks for the areas of greatest need throughout the UK and will be providing them to the Lan-cashire Constabulary in supp-ort of their ongoing efforts to reduce the number of knives on the streets.

Clive Knowles, Chairman of the British Ironwork Centre, said: “We are delighted to have received such a significant contribution towards the creation of our national memorial. This means so much to all of the families who have so bravely offered their support to our campaign.

“We are honoured to have been approached by Lanc-ashire Police and look forward to working in partnership with them and their local communities in the continuing fight against knife crime.”

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Dowson said: “We are keen to raise awareness of the devastating impact of knife crime and to reduce the number of families affected so we have decided to keep the knife bins indefinitely.

“While projects encouraging the surrender of knives are not a single solution to violence, they have an important role to play in inspiring communities to get behind education and preventative measures.”