Machetes and zombie knives should be completely banned in the UK, the Mayor of London said, as he called on the Government to speed up plans to curb availability of the weapons.

The Home Office said last summer that it would press ahead with plans to toughen up laws on these types of knives.

Mr Khan said a ban must be introduced quickly, with a complete bar on all machetes and zombie knives.

Current plans are for machetes with no practical use and certain types of zombie knives to be made illegal, while the maximum penalty for the importation, manufacturing, possession and sale of these weapons will be increased to two years.

The London Mayor said: “I’ve been mayor now for almost eight years, I’m now on my eighth Home Secretary.

“We’ve been hearing since 2016 their plans to make it more difficult to buy zombie knives and machetes. They’ve not done so.

“It’s more difficult for a teenager to buy a lottery ticket than to buy online a machete or a zombie knife.

“There can be no reason why anybody would have a machete in this country, we haven’t got forests like South America, there’s no justification or reason to have a zombie knife.”

Earlier this month, actor Idris Elba launched the Don’t Stop Your Future campaign, calling for an immediate ban on these knives.

According to the Telegraph, the Home Secretary is to fast-track plans to toughen up knife laws in response.

Mr Khan said: “What I’m saying to the Government is you should ban altogether machetes, there’s no reason to have a machete.

“I’ve been on police operations and we found hidden away these zombie knives and these huge machetes.

“The Government’s current plans are to only ban zombie knives if they’re bigger than eight inches, if they are serrated, or they have more than one hole, or they have more than one spike.

“Well, that will encourage manufacturers to make knives that aren’t caught by the ban.

“So what I’m saying to the Government is, firstly speed up this legislation and actually ban machetes and zombie knives.”

A Home office source said: “The Home Secretary requested a meeting over a fortnight ago in which he was hoping to discuss the Mayor’s record on knife crime. He looks forward to hearing how Sadiq plans to reverse the 40% increase in knife crime he has overseen in office.”