Guns handed in during amnesty

Almost 150 guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition were handed in to police during an 18 day amnesty,

Between May 12 and May 29, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire police collaborated to deliver a firearms surrender campaign.

The operation was part of a nationwide drive, where members of the public were encouraged to hand in any unwanted or illegal firearms, and not face prosecution for simple possession offences.

143 firearms and more than 1,400 rounds of ammunition were surrendered to police.

Ch Supt Matt Thompson, Firearms Surrender Campaign Lead for the three forces, said: “This operation has seen a large number of weapons rendered safe from harm, including 58 viable firearms, many of which were more vulnerable to falling into the hands of criminals.

“Firearms incidents in our counties are thankfully rare occurrences, in no small part due to operations like this one, which demonstrate the continued willingness of the wider public to make such meaningful contributions to public safety.

"It also shows the flexibility of modern policing to take complex issues like the possession of potentially unlicenced firearms and apply pragmatic solutions.”

Amongst the firearms handed in was a Frommer Stop self-loading pistol, a war trophy taken from a German prisoner in the closing stages of World War Two.

While the majority of the surrendered firearms will be destroyed, arrangements have been made for this rare handgun to be transferred to the Ministry of Defence, who will add the pistol to their teaching collection.