A total of 16 firearms have been turned over to the authorities as Kent police as part of its county-wide weapons surrender scheme.

In the second week of the campaign, police have had 26 air guns and 12 real firearms, including a Beretta handgun and five shotguns, handed over, together with 139 bladed instruments, 18 sets of ammunition and five ball bearing guns.

This follows the first week in which four real firearms were handed over, including two shotguns. A further four imitation firearms, six air guns, and 43 bladed instruments were also handed to police, with four separate lots of ammunition.

The scheme, part of the Kent Police Safer Spring campaign, was launched last month and will run until April 20.

Chief Inspector Mark Harrison of the Partnership and Crime Reduction department at Kent Police, said: “We cannot stress enough that a weapon removed is a weapon that cannot then be used in crime.

“We are very pleased with what has been achieved so far, but we still have two weeks of this campaign left, and we want people to contact us so that we can visit their homes to take the weapon away safely.”

Anyone carrying an illegal weapon, whether it is a realistic imitation or not, will be dealt with by police and the courts, and it is highly likely that armed police will respond to reported incidents.

It is also illegal to manufacture, import or sell realistic imitation guns.

Any type of weapon can be handed over to police, or can contact police to arrange the safe collection of weapons from their homes.

Anyone wanting details on how to surrender weapons should contact their local police station, or to report the misuse of weapons or illegal weapons can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.