More Than 80,000 Knives Taken Off the Streets – and London Hands In the Most

Updated 13 Nov 2026, 08:21 · First published 13 Nov 2026

More than 80,000 knives and other weapons have been taken off Britain’s streets since July 2024, the Home Office says, and London accounts for by far the biggest share of weapons handed in at surrender bins. Knife-enabled robbery has fallen by 24% across the seven police force areas worst affected, including the Met.

How many knives have been handed in?

According to the Home Office, 80,190 knives and weapons have been removed or seized since July 2024. That includes 47,795 zombie-style knives and machetes handed in under the 2024 surrender and compensation scheme, 3,942 ninja swords handed in after they were banned in 2025, and 11,787 weapons left in Home Office-funded surrender bins between September 2025 and July 2026. Border Force seized another 7,385.

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In the latest surrender drive in August this year, 3,811 weapons were handed in, 3,049 of them through bins run by the charity Word 4 Weapons and 762 through the FazAmnesty van.

How many knives were handed in in London?

London surrender bins took in 2,017 weapons in August, more than anywhere else in the country. West Yorkshire was next with 439, including 337 from a single bin in Halifax, followed by the West Midlands with 377.

Is knife crime falling?

The Home Office says knife-enabled robbery is down 24% since June 2024 across the seven forces with the highest levels, which works out at about 3,810 fewer robberies. The seven are the Metropolitan Police, Greater Manchester, West Midlands, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Avon and Somerset, and British Transport Police.

Across England and Wales, it says knife crime overall is down 11% since the general election, around 6,000 fewer offences. Knife homicides are at a 35-year low, and hospital admissions for assaults with a sharp object are down 16%, including a 19% fall among under-25s.

What happens next?

The government has set a target of halving knife crime within a decade. A £26.25 million fund is paying for extra patrols, CCTV and youth work in more than 230 hotspots, and a “No Place for Knives” awareness campaign was piloted earlier this month in Croydon, Westminster and Birmingham. The National Knife Crime Centre, set up in April, says it has identified 186 grey-market knife sellers.

Policing minister Sarah Jones said: “No parent should have to fear that their child will leave home carrying a knife.” Pooja Kanda, whose son Ronan was killed with a knife in 2022, said: “Every knife removed from our streets is potentially a life saved.”

Source: Home Office. Photo: Peter Titmuss / Shutterstock.