New knife surrender bin installed outside Wolverhampton church
There will be more opportunities for people to surrender their knives after a new bin was put in place outside a city church.
The new surrender bin outside St Peter's Church on Lich Gates in Wolverhampton is the 10th bin to be set up in the region, providing a place where people can safely dispose of a knife, blade or other weapons.
It follows on from bins being set up in Heath Town, Dudley, Bilston, Stourbridge, Halesowen and Oldbury and is part of the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner's (PCC) work to install bins across the region.
A spokesman for West Midlands PCC said: "Once deposited in the bin [a blade] will be secure until it is removed by professionals.
"The bin has been specifically designed to offer maximum safety. Every knife surrendered into one of our bins is one less potentially dangerous weapon on the streets of the West Midlands.
"The West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner has supported the installation of weapon surrender bins in Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell and Wolverhampton.
"West Midlands Police are promoting the use of knife bins and have held regular weeks of intensive activity in relation to knife crime.
"This includes conducting sweeps of parks and public spaces to remove hidden knives.
"They are also working with retailers and Trading Standards to prevent young people being sold knives in our shops."
To find out the exact location of surrender bins across the region, go to westmidlands-pcc.gov.uk/tackling-violence/weapon-surrender-bins.
