Knives seized by police who pulled vehicle over

More than 60 knives have been seized by police after they stopped a vehicle in Birmingham.

Working as part of Project Guardian - which tackles knife crime and youth violence - officers pulled the vehicle over in Nechells.

The weapons were later confiscated, but no arrests were made during the incident, at about 15:00 BST on Wednesday.

It comes after national figures showed last month, that the West Midlands Police (WMP) area has the highest rate of knife crime offences in England and Wales.

Offences involving a blade per 100,000 of the population, in the force area in 2023, totalled 180, up from 167 in 2022. In London, the Metropolitan Police force total was 165.

As well as multiple boxes of kitchen knives, counterfeit electrical products were also seized by officers in Nechells, WMP said.

Officers are now carrying out inquiries to establish the details surrounding the potential sale of the knives and those people involved in it.

Project Guardian was set up in 2019, with the aim of reducing violent crime, especially among young people using knives.

"There's nothing more important to us than saving young lives and stopping knife crime," the force said .

In November last year, WMP was placed into special measures, but said it is working hard to improve the force.