YOUTHS who carry knives have been warned they could face a lengthy stretch behind bars after a blade amnesty saw officers conduct a week-long operation across Barnsley.

Although the town is South Yorkshire’s least affected area for knife crime, rising concerns about youngsters arming themselves for either status or protection saw Barnsley included in Operation Sceptre earlier this month.

Police conducted stop and searches, positioned a knife arch in Barnsley Interchange and carried out open land searches in a bid to find discarded weapons.

Det Chf Insp Paul Murphy said: “The reality is that if you carry a knife, you’re three times more likely to be a victim of knife crime. It’s a startling statistic but it’s a fact.

“Sceptre’s been in Barnsley for two years now as it’s an absolute priority for the force to protect our community. We’ve been engaging in the right way in order to understand the root cause of the issue.

“It’s not big and it’s not clever to carry a knife.”

Officers working on Operation Sceptre also executed a warrant at a house on Vincent Road, Lundwood, seizing drugs, cash and weapons following a tip-off from residents.

After searching the house, officers found and seized ten large bags of cannabis, £3,000 in cash and three weapons.

Two men, aged 29 and 57, were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply and bailed pending further enquiries.

Det Supt Una Jennings, who leads the operation in South Yorkshire, said: “Those who choose to arm themselves with a knife, whether it’s carried in the belief it’s for protection or status, or if it’s used to commit a crime, are those who are responsible for damaging our communities and are a blight on society.

“We’re all committed and all have the same goal. We will ensure we continue to adopt all methods and measures available to drive knife-related criminality down.

“The results we have seen across the county have been very encouraging as our communities, as well as partner organisations, are fully behind us. We will not tolerate knife crime.”

Det Supt Jennings said the force recorded 819 knife-related crimes between September 2017 and 2018 - down from 931 in the previous 12 months - but police remain keen to continue the work following last year’s high-profile stabbing involving Wombwell’s Jill Hibberd, who sustained more than 70 wounds in her home in a botched burglary carried out by Lee Fueloep, who was given a 35-year jail term.

Stop and search checks have, historically, proved controversial because some elements of the community have faced the greatest likelihood of being challenged by police and national guidelines were issued advising forces to reduce reliance on those tactics.

However, that advice has now been withdrawn with Barnsley’s officers actively encouraged to conduct such work but to do so only if they have reason to believe a person is carrying a weapon.

Det Supt Jennings added: “It is vitally important that we continue to work together to address the issue of knife crime and make our young people feel safer and, if they are considering carrying a knife, understand why that is and educate them away from this highly dangerous path.

“We’re very clear that when the problem of knife crime comes to the police, someone has already been failed, whether it is the offender or the victim.

“I’m grateful for the support of our partner agencies, schools and communities as we continue our efforts to tackle this devastating crime.”