YORK'S top policeman has welcomed Government moves to take fake guns off the streets.

It has been reported that Home Secretary Charles Clarke has ordered officials to look at how an outright ban on replica firearms could be implemented.

Chief Superintendent Tim Madgwick, area commander for York and Selby, said he was "very pleased" with the proposals.

"I think it's imperative that the Government acts," he said.

"We've seen a considerable increase across the country in relation to the deployment of firearms officers."

In November last year, 29-year-old David Roustoby sparked a five-hour police siege in York after reports that he was armed inside a house off Windmill Lane, Heslington.

Mr Roustoby said he had simply been showing a replica Walther PPK pistol - made famous by James Bond - to his partner's 16-year-old son.

Hours after the dramatic siege, Chief Supt Madgwick called for fake guns to be banned, saying they were a "potential tragedy".

The rise in gun culture has inspired teens across the country to invest in a fake weapon to boost their hard-man image.

Police marksmen are having to make more and more split second decisions on whether to shoot an apparently armed person to protect the public.

Home Office figures revealed that the use of armed response vehicles in North Yorkshire had soared by 103 per cent between 2000 and 2004.

Chief Supt Madgwick said even his most expert officers could not always tell the difference between real and fake guns. He said: "If we get a call that someone is seen in public with what is believed to be a firearm, I can't deploy an unarmed officer.

"I'm at a loss to see why we should continue to sell replica guns - it's a disaster waiting to happen in my view.

"There's a greater good here for the public as a whole - we must be able to sort this out.

"What we don't want to do is to wait for tragedies.

"If the Government seeks my view as a police area commander, I'll help in any way I can."

A Home Office spokeswoman confirmed steps were being taken to ban sales of replica guns that could be converted into the real thing.

She said a consultation period on whether to ban fake guns altogether was under way, but added that the Home Office believed this could be unworkable.

Les Coverdale, secretary of the North Yorkshire Police Federation, welcomed the possibility of a ban.

He said: "It could save lives of innocent people who have been shot for having imitation firearms."

Updated: 10:22 Thursday, February 10, 2005