Some of the knives bought online

Young knife sales ease uncovered by investigation

Trading Standards has unearthed alarming results after a test purchasing exercise to investigate how easily youngsters can buy knives online.

According to research, thousands of knives are being bought by teenagers through websites that fail to restrict the age of buyers.

Staffordshire's recent test exercise resulted in the supervised purchase of four knives online - including a 15 inch machete for just £1.70. Four purchases were made by a 14 year old using his own visa debit card via an office computer.

The National picture show how easy it is to buy a variety of weapons off the internet, from pocket knives to machetes, and raises further fears over police efforts to curb knife crime after a series of stabbings.

The research group MarkMonitor found that almost 9,021 knives were for sale on online auction sites over a three-day period last month. More than half of these were available to purchase instantly with no warnings or restrictions. In a survey of six of the country's biggest department stores and retailers, four were selling knives with no age limits online.

Staffordshire's recent test exercise resulted in the supervised purchase of four knives online - including a 15 inch machete for just £1.70. Four purchases were made by a 14 year old using his own visa debit card via an office computer.

A crackdown on the illegal sale of knives to under-18s has been called for by Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker. Knife retailers in the ten police force areas in England and Wales have become the focus of the Government's Tackling Knives Action Programme (TKAP).

Since the programme was launched in June, over 55,000 people have been stopped and searched, 2,500 arrests have been made for knife-related offences and over 1,600 knives have been seized. The ten areas taking part in the TKAP are London, Essex, Lancashire, West Yorkshire, Merseyside, the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Nottinghamshire, South Wales and Thames Valley.

Cllr Carol Dean, Cabinet Member for Safer and Stronger Communities says the results are shocking and has urged parents to be aware of the accessibility of knives: "It is becoming increasingly easy to purchase deadly weapons online at a fraction of the retail price. This happens daily and often with no regulations controlling who is purchasing them and why."

219 offences involving knives were committed last year in Staffordshire. This meant 13% of all wounding, grievous bodily harm or robberies were committed with a knife involved - compared to the national figure of 19%.

Page Last Modified: 09/09/2008 09:23:31

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