Watch more of our videos on Shots!
and live on Freeview channel 276

“There is no reason a weapon like this should be lying about in public.”

A large knife has been removed from Peterborough’s streets by a woman who found the dumped blade in some bushes on her walk to work.

Cambridgeshire Police officers were alerted to the knife by a member of the public in Huntly Grove.

The weapon was seized as part of Operation Guardian – a police-led operation to combat knife crime in Peterborough.

Cambridgeshire Police were handed this terrifying knife after a woman spotted it on her commute.

A Cambridgeshire Police spokesperson said: “One of our neighbourhood policing officers was flagged down by a member of the public on September 29 in the Huntly Grove area of Peterborough.

"The woman was walking to work when she saw the discarded knife in some bushes, so flagged the officers down to report it to them.”

Council enforcement officers to be given powers to deal with city centre drinkin...

Operation Guardian was launched in November last year as part of the force’s long-term plan to reduce knife crime, and the harm it causes to communities, in this city.

Between January 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021 almost half of all recorded crimes involving a knife or sharp instruments in Cambridgeshire were recorded in Peterborough.

Cambridgeshire Police inspector Olly Warsop said: “Police alone are unlikely to be able to ‘arrest our way out’ of some of the issues which drive people, particularly young people, to carry or use knives and we have seen the value in other areas of the UK in how working in partnership with others can have a positive impact.

“This does not mean our officers won’t be investigating and robustly dealing with crime enabled by knives – we of course will continue to do so.

“We have invested a lot of time in understanding who our most prolific offenders and habitual knife carriers are and why they choose to carry a knife. All of this information is being used to inform our work and intervene at every opportunity.

“I would encourage anyone who has information about someone who carries or uses a knife to contact us, or Crimestoppers anonymously.”

You can contact police with information online by clicking here, or via the webchat service here.

Independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously by calling 0800 555 111 or online by clicking here.

Knife removed from Peterborough's streets by woman who found dumped ‘weapon’ in bushes on walk to work