An Ashford resident has spoken out after finding a knife abandoned by the side of the road while out walking her dog.

Emma Morris made the startling discovery barely concealed in shrubbery next to Hythe Road yesterday afternoon.

She said: "I was on my way back from the shop and there it was, I just couldn't believe it!

"The blade is around 10-15cm long at a guess, and has a serrated edge, it really does look wicked.

"When you see something like that all sorts of questions go through your head, I wasn't sure what to do with it for a moment.

"But I knew I couldn't just leave it there, it's a main road and while it's not immediately next to a park or anything, we have a lot of children around here and all they have to do is walk up the road.

"I shudder to think what would have happened if one of them had found it and got hurt, or even worse if it had fallen into the wrong hands."

"What if a child had found it?..."

Ms Morris, 45, took the knife home and immediately called the police, who arrived the following day to collect it.

Despite the time it took to rid herself of the blade, Emma says she is just glad to have it out of her house.

She explained: "When I brought it home, I just put it in a bag in the garage and washed my hands, it was impossible to settle with knowing it was in the house.

"You have to think, what if a child had found it?!

"The important thing is that it's off the street, and in the right hands.

"They told us that they are going to test the knife to see if it was used in a crime of some sort."

Ms Morris's partner Kaleigh was immensly proud of her, but left disappointed by the reaction from other residents.

She said: "Emma and I had a few responses from members of the Facebook group that we shared the news on.

"They didn't find the situation at all serious, until a lady had informed them that both of her sons had fallen victim to knife crimes in the past.

"She was so grateful to my partner for removing the knife.

"I wish people would take things like that more seriously, what kind of world are we living in when even a simple walk to the shops could lead to a fatality?

"It's no wonder some people find it too frightening to even leave their homes."

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