AN ANONYMOUS message attached to a knife handed in during a nationwide month-long knife amnesty struck a poignant note with police officers.

The note from a pensioner was tied to a large knife in the collection bin at Accrington Police Station.

Addressed to Lancashire Chief Constable, Pauline Clare, the note said: "I bought this knife from a car boot sale for £8, which was all the money I had.

"I couldn't afford it but I bought it to take it out of circulation, so that it could not be used on a member of the public or one of your officers."

The note was signed: "From a senior citizen."

The knife was one of 98 collected in Accrington Police's sealed bin, one of the fullest in the area.

Just 25 were handed in at Blackburn Police Station. Police officers at Hutton headquarters counted a county-wide total of around 1,200.

Inspector Ewan Cameron, of Accrington Police, said: "We are pleased that there has been a good response to the amnesty but I wish more knives had been handed in.

"They are incredibly dangerous weapons and the less there are on the streets, the easier our job is. I'm sure the 98 we collected are only a small proportion of the knives out there."

He added: "I think some people, who had no idea there were so many weapons like this on the streets, may have been frightened to hear how many knives were collected."

The amnesty, which began in December last year, was in response to the fatal stabbing of London headteacher Philip Lawrence.

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