POLICE in Bradford today start a weapons amnesty to take lethal guns and knives off the streets and prevent innocent owners falling foul of new firearms legislation.

West Yorkshire Police is running a ten-day amnesty so owners of offensive weapons can surrender them without facing prosecution for possession, following a recent change in the law which makes it illegal for certain people to hold antique weapons.

Officers believe many people may be affected by the change because firearms have been forgotten or they have de-activated weapons or trophies of war.

The initiative, supported by the Save a Life, Surrender Your Knife campaign aims to avoid weapons getting into the wrong hands and provide a safe place to dispose of them.

West Yorkshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Andy Battle said: “We have worked hard to reduce gun and knife crime and it remains low in West Yorkshire.

“We take firearms offences very seriously and don’t want people to fall foul of the law by keeping hold of these weapons.”

West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson said he fully supported the weapons surrender.

Police will work with the Royal Armouries in Leeds to save any important and rare weapons from destruction.

Weapons can be handed in at police stations across the county, including Keighley and Bradford South.