THIS terrifying arsenal of weaponry was handed into York Police Station in just one week.

Incredibly, more than 30 lethal knives and swords have already been left anonymously part of a police amnesty to get the blades off our streets.

Inspector Richard Anderson, who is heading up the campaign, said: "Any knife can kill, whether it's a vegetable peeler or a samurai sword. All it has to do is get to your artery."

The amnesty will run until the end of this month, when the deadly weapons will be thrown into a furnace and melted down.

York MP Hugh Bayley said he was encouraged by the number of knives already handed in.

But stab victim Paul Poruba, of Selby, said he feared the amnesty didn't go far enough, and called for tougher penalties for those convicted of knife crime.

Security guard Mr Poruba, 30, was stabbed after he confronted four drunken men in Bootham Park Hospital last year. Had he not been wearing a stab-proof vest, he would have been killed.

Today, he said: "The amnesty is a good idea, but it depends on all those people carrying knives and swords to make the decision to hand them in.

"It's worth a try, but I worry 30 knives is not that much.

"There are a lot of people in York, and a lot of them carry knives. Something more should be done, and changing the law might be a good thing. The courts should punish people more for carrying knives.

"A sentence like a conditional discharge just doesn't mean anything."

Davey Burns, 19, of Hob Moor, was stabbed in the stomach by a 13-year-old girl in April last year. He does not believe the amnesty would have a significant effect on knife crime.

"I don't think it'll have that much of an effect. A lot of people seem to be getting stabbed we need stronger punishments," he said.

Mr Burns' attacker was given a two-year prison term for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

"Even if people hand their knives in, they can get another one anywhere. They only have to go to a car boot sale," he said.

He said that carrying knives should be criminalised.

Since the amnesty was launched eight days ago, 28 knives, two samurai swords and a sword stick have been dropped into a red bin in York Police Station.

The knives range from ordinary bread knives to ornate ceremonial daggers.

Insp Anderson, of York Police, said: "So far the amnesty is proving to be a success. People are able to come in, drop knives into the box, and disappear.

"Some of these weapons are standard kitchen implements, but some clearly aren't there is nothing here which officers have not been threatened with or had used against them.

"It's pleasing to see this many off the streets already.

"If it's here under lock and key, it is not being used and so we would encourage readers of The Press to bring further items to the police station."

A Humberside Police spokesman said officers were delighted with the response to the amnesty in East Yorkshire.

He said 57 blades, including kitchen knives and weapons, had been handed to the force since the amnesty began.

'There's never a reason to carry a blade on the street'

YORK MP Hugh Bayley has a stark message for anyone tempted to carry a knife: "There can be no reason to take a long-bladed knife or a sword into the street. It can only do harm."

The MP has long campaigned for a change in the law governing samurai swords and other lethal blades.

Mr Bayley called on the Government to take action after the conviction of Daniel Rocks in January for chasing three people around the streets of Clifton with a samurai sword.

Mr Bayley said samurai swords were "not ornaments, but dangerous weapons", which should be "controlled in the same way as guns".

Today, the MP called the knife and sword amnesty "a very good idea".

He said: "I am very pleased the amnesty is working. Anyone else in York who has a knife should think and hand it in before the end of the amnesty period to make sure it is taken out of harm's way.

"Even if someone believes they would never misuse a knife they should still hand it in, in case that knife is taken and misused by someone else.

In every one of the knife crimes I am aware of in York, it has not been premeditated it's somebody stupid, often drunk, sometimes as an act of bravado, taking a knife into a public place and committing an awful crime.

"If they didn't have a knife the crime would not have been committed and their victim would be alive or uninjured."

Community safety leaders back weapons campaign

COMMUNITY safety chiefs across the county have welcomed the knife amnesty.

Carole Patrick of the Safer York Partnership, said the police campaign was a "splendid idea".

She said: "They are providing a facility for people to rid themselves of this potentially dangerous equipment, and that has got to be good for the people of York.

"Whether it is in the spur of the moment or premeditated, a knife in the wrong hands can have fatal consequences.

"The considerable haul we have had so far is extremely encouraging. People obviously feel comfortable popping in anonymously and ridding themselves of this danger. If there are more out there let's hope this will encourage others to come forward."

Fred McManus, of Safer Ryedale said: "Ryedale does not have a particularly big knife culture, but of course we and the police are happy to support the initiative.

"Thankfully, this is a very low violence area, but any knife which gets taken out of circulation might otherwise have the potential for misuse, and I know there are some particularly nasty weapons out there."

Fresh demand for tougher law

CAMPAIGNER Moira Windass added her voice to calls for tougher anti-knife legislation.

Mrs Windass' son Peter was killed in a stabbing in York in January 1994.

She now works with campaign group Support After Murder and Manslaughter.

Mrs Windass, 62, of York, told The Press: "The amnesty will only work well if people hand their knives in. But what if someone wants to keep their knife?

"It's still a dangerous weapon, even if they have it for no better reason than a show of bravado.

"The rise in knife crime is horrendous. When I see pictures of knives in the papers I have to steel myself to look at them. The criminal justice system needs to get its act together it's a shambles."