Express & Star comment: Thank you for getting our knife campaign this far

Along with West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson we have strived to raise this issue with the Home Office amidst a rising tide of knife crime on our streets.

And crime minister Victoria Atkins is to be commended for her decision to look again at the definition of the banned Zombie knife, to see if it could be changed to widen the ban on deadly knives.

• Express & Star victory in deadly knives campaign

This is the first step which we and our thousands of readers have asked for.

We understand the difficulties of legislation in this area and the risk of laws inadvertently encompassing legitimate uses of bladed tools.

However, as Mr Jamieson points out, there can be no legitimate reason for wanting to carry or even own an horrendous weapon with the title of Head Splitter.

Such blades are responsible for the deaths of countless loved ones across the country and are regularly seized by police.

Yet they remain freely available to buy on UK streets.

And they are just as dangerous as Zombie knives even with the vulgar lettering and imagery removed.

Shockingly, they can be purchased in town and city centres with nothing more than a £20 note and a form of identification.

This is not right and it is to be hoped that common sense is applied from now and that some form of legislation can be reached which bans the sale of these weapons.

The credit with this really lies with the Express & Star readers.

Our thanks go to everybody who took a few seconds to sign an online petition in their thousands which has brought the issue to national recognition currently.

We know that our readers are as horrified as we are at the increase in knife crime in the West Midlands and beyond.

This review may not be the final victory, but it is certainly a step in the right direction and a move toward making or streets safer.

Thank you to everyone who took part, we will continue to monitor events closely.