Air rifle and knives seized as officers crack down on weapons

A collection of dangerous weapons and an air rifle were taken off the streets as officers cracked down on criminals.

The Bassetlaw neighbourhood policing team was out in force last week carrying out warrants, visiting schools to talk about knife crime, carrying out weapon sweeps in hotspot areas, and patrolling well-known crime spots.

It comes as Nottinghamshire Police supported Op Sceptre – a national week of action to target and educate the public on knife crime.

As part of the week of action officers from the Worksop area and the Operation Reacher team carried out a warrant in Shrewsbury Road, Worksop, on Thursday (18 May).

Trawling through the house the teams then discovered an air rifle hidden within one of the bedrooms.

A 31-year-old man was minutes later arrested on suspicion of breaching the firearms act.

He has since been bailed with conditions while a full investigation is carried out.

Officers in the far north of the county in Retford and Harworth were also kept busy arresting a number of men and teenagers after receiving separate reports of people being in possession of weapons and knives.

The team were also handed five knives from a charity shop after officers in Retford received a message explaining the knives had all been donated to the store and staff didn’t know how to get rid of them.

A Stanley knife was also found on top of a pelican crossing button by a member of the public before being placed into one of the knife amnesty bins.

Worksop sergeant Sarah Hagland, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This was all within a week’s work for the teams across the whole of the district.

“Op Sceptre is the time for us to focus on those who carry knives and try and educate people on the dangers of arming yourself with a weapon, but this kind of work isn’t just reserved for weeks of action.

“We had some great outcomes last week thanks to the work of the officers but also in the public coming forward to pass us intelligence and tell us about dangerous weapons they found.

“I want to thank those individuals who came forward and handed the knives in – because of you these dangerous weapons have been taken off our streets and placed in the amnesty bins.

“The teams are constantly out and about carrying out warrants, patrolling, visiting schools, and building relationships within the community – last week's work is no different for us but it’s a great opportunity to shine a light on all the hard work officers in Bassetlaw are doing to keep our communities safe.”

If you do find a knife, have any information regarding knife crime, or know of someone who has armed themselves with a weapon please call 101, or in an emergency always call 999.