3:20pm UK, Wednesday May 31, 2006

The seizure of deadly weapons from festival-goers and a spate of high-profile stabbings have highlighted the scale of the country's knife culture.

180 90 weapons knives

Weapons seized from festival-goers

It comes as police are staging their first knife amnesty for a decade to take lethal weapons out of circulation.

More than 90 knives, knuckle-dusters and other dangerous weapons were taken from revellers at Luton's international carnival on the weekend.

Thousands of people had passed through metal detectors on their way to the event.

Superintendent Alex Carson, who was horrified by the haul, said: "It is appalling. There is a knife carrying culture amongst some groups of young people that is extremely dangerous.

"When people carry knives, even if they think they are not going to use them, other people die and are seriously injured."

The weapons included a jagged blade, 10-inch kitchen knife, taser, batons and CS canisters.

Chief Inspector Peter Buckingham, of Luton Police, said: "What this shows is that there is a dangerous culture of knife carrying that we must break."

In recent weeks, a spate of knife killings have drawn the problem into focus.

Teenage student Thomas Grant was stabbed to death on a train in Cumbria while Marlvin Jiro died after being knifed after a night out with friends in Birmingham.

Special constable Nisha Patel-Nasri was killed with a kitchen knife outside her home in London and schoolboy Kiyan Prince was stabbed in Edgware, north London.

Police are also investigating the death of a father-of-three in Bristol and the stabbing of Good Samaritan Ian Montgomery in Nottingham.

He was seriously hurt after helping a woman who was being attacked.