A crackdown on knife crime across the north of England saw BTP officers seize knives and imitation guns.

As part of Operation Sceptre, a national police initiative to tackle knife crime, British Transport Police (BTP) officers conducted 20 operations across the Pennine region and made 14 arrests over Thursday, May 18 and Friday, May 19.

In Preston, arrests were made for possession of an imitation firearm, actual bodily harm, and a number of possession of an offensive weapon arrests including possession of a BB gun, a sawn-off imitation shotgun, a hammer and a wooden stick.

BTP joined home office forces to send a clear message to anyone carrying weapons on the rail network – we’re one step ahead and we have the resources to put an end to your criminal activity and bring you before the courts.

A range of tactics including knife arches, police dogs and plain clothes patrols were deployed as part of the crackdown.

Weapons seized included two knives, two imitation firearms, knuckle dusters, a baseball bat and a hammer.

Inspector Pete Wilcock said: “We hope this sends a message of reassurance to rail users that these weapons are now off the network but also a strong message to criminals that their days are numbered.

"These patrols are not limited to one week – every day of the year we patrol the rail network and police dogs and knife arches can pop up anywhere at anytime – we are just as unpredictable as the criminal."

Operation Sceptre brings together all 43 police forces across England and Wales in a week of intensified action with forces coordinating activity which targets knife crime from the root cause right through to enforcement.