Police are trying to get more knives off the streets by setting up another knife bin.

The new scheme, outside Loughton Police Station, allows knives to be disposed of safely.

There are already 14 specialist bins across Essex which are regularly emptied and had previously collectively contained 13,299 knives, other sharp objects and weapons.

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Blades totalling at 1.1 tonnes were then taken to a secure location to be destroyed.

Epping Forest District Commander, Chief Inspector Paul Ballard, said: “Knife bins have proved to be very effective at collecting thousands of knives each year, removing them from our streets, homes and communities.

“And now Epping Forest residents have the opportunity to dispose of them closer to home."

Essex Police also teamed up with the Ben Kinsella Trust and other local organisations such as education, health, local authorities and probation services, to raise awareness of the dangers of carrying a knife.

The Ben Kinsella Trust, was founded by actress Brooke Kinsella following the fatal stabbing of her 16-year-old brother Ben in an unprovoked attack on 29 June 2008 in north London.

Together they aim to educate young people that carrying a knife doesn’t offer protection, instead increasing the likelihood that an individual might be stabbed.

The Loughton knife bin is adorned with artwork designed by Bethany, a student of Cornelius Vermuyden School on Canvey Island, who won an art competition earlier this year to design a positive anti-knife poster.

Deputy Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Jane Gardner, said: “Knife crime has a devasting impact on victims and our communities. Each and every knife placed in one of these bins is another knife off our streets.

“Not only do these bins allow dangerous weapons to be safely and anonymously disposed of, their visible presence in the heart of our town centres helps raise awareness of the real risks posed by carrying knives.

"They are helping to get thousands of knives off the streets of Essex every year.”

The bins are funded jointly by Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Roger Hirst, and the Essex Violence and Vulnerability Partnership.