Lichfield District Council visited The British Ironwork Centre to hand over the latest collection of knives retrieved from Ironworks knife banks across the city.

The visit marks the third handover of weapons since the initiative began in 2023, with 1,958 knives collected in the past year alone. In total, more than 4,400 knives have now been safely removed from the streets of Lichfield through their #DitchTheBlade initiative.

Inspired by the Knife Angels 2023 visit to Lichfield, four knife banks were installed across the city, giving residents a safe and anonymous way to dispose of unwanted knives, blades and other weapons.

Clive Knowles, Chairman of The Ironworks, says: “A huge thank you to everyone for pulling together to take these weapons off the streets, it truly is tremendous to see.”

The knife banks will remain in place and will continue to collect knives from the public going forward, helping to reduce the number of weapons across the streets of Lichfield.

If you are a police force, council or community group and you need help with knife banks, don’t hesitate to get in touch at britishironworkcentre.co.uk.