A dad was horrified to find a hunting knife lying in the street, just yards away from a primary school.

Michael Cross spotted the weapon in the middle of Edwin Road in Rainham – a quiet residential street close to several primary and secondary schools and less than 200 yards from Bryony independent school and nursery.

The black knife, which had a 20cm blade with a serrated edge, was discovered at about 3pm, just before the busy school-run.

The dad-of-two said: “We had been to my son’s school for an Easter performance and were driving back home when I spotted something in the road.

"I stopped and saw it was this big hunter's knife. It looked horrible.

“I carefully picked it up and placed it in a bag and then in the boot of my car before calling the police.”

Officers arrived at his Rainham home within half an hour to collect the knife and told him it would be held at the station and most likely destroyed.

Michael said: “It was a sickening thing to find.

"It is bad enough that people carry around a weapon like this and then for it to be lying in the road where a child could pick it up.

“It was lucky that I picked it up when I did. If it had been 15 minutes or so later that road would have been swarming with school children.”

The 42-year-old added: “It is a sad state of affairs that people carry around knives like that.

"It could have belonged to someone with criminal intentions and been thrown from a car, or it could have just been a kid who has been carrying it around in their school bag.

“It is pretty sad that for whatever reason they feel the need to carry around a weapon like that and then to find it on your doorstep.

“It has made me realise that things like this can affect us all.

"It doesn't matter what sort of house you live in or what your background is.”